Trump was unable to post a $464 million bail bond in the case of inflating his wealth
Donald Trump faces the possibility of confiscating assets he owns in a development that would cause great damage to the image of the self-made businessman that he sought so hard to promote, after his legal agents admitted that he was unable to provide a bail bond to appeal the decision to fine him $464 million in a case of Fraudulent inflation of his wealth.
The Republican candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for November intends to appeal a ruling issued in February by a New York court, which automatically imposes a stay of execution.
But he must first deposit the amount in an account managed by the Court of Appeal or submit a surety bond for the full amount, and 30 insurance companies have rejected his requests for assistance, according to new defenses presented by his agents to the court.
His cash crisis means that New York State is likely to begin seizing assets owned by the former president as of next Monday, unless the court, known as the First Circuit of Appeals, agrees to extend the legal deadline.
In the document, Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, said, “The defendant faced what turned out to be insurmountable difficulties in securing an appeal bond in the full amount of $464 million”.
Judge Arthur Engoron concluded last month that Trump and his company inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of his assets for the purpose of obtaining bank loans on favorable terms and reducing their value to obtain insurance contracts at a lower premium.
The judge ordered Trump to pay a fine of about $355 million, plus interest, while he ordered his two sons to pay a fine of more than four million dollars each.
Earlier this month, Trump deposited a bail bond in the federal court in New York to cover a fine of $91.6 million after appealing a ruling convicting him of defamation in connection with a sexual assault case against writer E. Jane Carroll.
But his legal agents said that all major bond providers have internal policies that prevent them from accepting real estate guarantees in a fraud case, and many set a ceiling of $100 million.
In a statement he gave in April 2023 in the same case, Trump said that he had “far more than $400 million in cash,” but the reputation of him exaggerating his wealth had spread.
He asked the Court of Appeal to extend the deadline for depositing the bond until the appeal was decided, under the pretext that the value of his real estate empire far exceeds the amount.
Trump asked to be allowed to post a bond for a lower amount, but New York State Attorney General Letitia James protested, saying that he could evade implementation or obstruct its mechanism.
