In his biggest punishment to date, a New York judge ordered former President Donald Trump and his companies to pay $354.9 million on Friday for fraudulently inflating the values of his properties.
According to CNN, Judge Arthur Engoron also barred Trump from serving as an officer or director of a corporation or other legal entities in New York, including his namesake firm, for three years after he found the former president liable for fraud, conspiracy, and issuing false financial statements and false business records.
Sons of Donald Trump Are Also Impacted
Donald Trump and his company can also not apply for loans from any financial institution registered in New York for three years. However, the judge did not issue the so-called corporate death penalty, which is a legal procedure in which a corporation is compelled to dissolve or cease to exist.
Instead, Engoron ordered the continued stay of an independent monitor for at least three years and the installation of an independent director of compliance at the Trump Organization at the company's expense.
In explaining for continued monitoring, the judge said that the defendant's refusal "to admit error - indeed, to continue it, according to the Independent Monitor -constrains this Court to conclude that they will engage in it going forward unless judicially restrained."
Engoron found that Trump's and the other defendants' fraud saved them around $168 million in interest. Thus, he fined them that amount.
Engoron also found that Trump and his companies were liable for $126 million in ill-gotten financial gain from the sale of the Old Post Office in Washington, DC and that they were responsible for $60 million in profits from the sale of Ferry Point in the Bronx. He then ruled that the former president would have to pay for the interest on these payments.
Trump's sons, Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump, who have been running the Trump Organization since 2017, have been ordered to pay $4 million each for personal profits from the fraud.
They were also prohibited from serving as executives in New York for two years, while two former executives of the Trump Organization were permanently banned from doing finances for state businesses.
How Will Donald Trump Pay the Penalties?
In his posts on his social media site Truth Social, Donald Trump said the ruling was "an illegal, unAmerican judgment against me, my family, and my tremendous business," adding that it was "a complete and total sham."
According to The Guardian, the former president vowed to appeal the decision, including the $83.3 million fine for defamation against writer E Jean Carroll.
The combined penalties from two civil lawsuits in New York will cost him around $438 million, likely taking out almost a fifth of his net worth, which is around $2.3 billion based on Bloomberg's billionaires' list in 2021.
And while waiting on multiple appeals decisions, The Guardian reported that Trump will still have to give the court money to hold on to. If he wins any of his appeals, the former president can get his money back.
Trump can opt to pay up everything he owes now in cash or try to get an appeal bond, meaning he would not have to pay all the necessary fees upfront in exchange for a premium and putting up collateral.
However, due to Trump's wealth, bankruptcy seems improbable, but he may have to sell some of his assets, investments, or properties. Federal law prohibits candidates from using campaign funds for personal use, so it is still unclear how he was able to use them for some of his trials.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Trump's political fundraising apparatus has spent more than it raised in 2023, partly due to the more than $55 million he spent on legal expenses.
Join the Conversation