NEWS
Donald Trump Set To Appear In New York Court Monday As Fraud Trial Gets Underway
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Former President Donald Trump is set to appear in a New York court on Monday as the fraud trial against him, his two adult sons, and Trump Organization executives gets underway.
An appeals court on Thursday rejected a bid from Trump’s attorneys to delay the trial in a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Judge Arthur Engoron earlier last week ruled that Trump committed financial fraud for a decade by overvaluing assets, and revoked the Trump Organization’s business certification in the state. Engoron granted the motion for summary judgment, finding Trump and his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, “to be liable as a matter of law for persistent violations” of New York state law.
Following Tuesday’s ruling, the state will not have to prove at trial that the financial statements are fraudulent, but several other claims are still to be decided, including allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records and insurance fraud. Prosecutors are seeking up to $250 million in penalties.
The judge found that Trump repeatedly provided false financial statements that overvalued assets and his net worth in order to deceive banks and insurers to receive favorable terms. New York properties involved in the lawsuit include the tower at 40 Wall Street and the Trump family compound at Seven Springs.
Engoron also found that Trump repeatedly overvalued the Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla., by as much as 2,300%, and lied about the size of his Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan, tripling it and valuing it at $327 million.
“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,” Engoron said.
In addition to canceling the business licenses for some Trump business entities, including the Trump Organization, Engoron said a receiver would be appointed to dissolve corporate entities named in the lawsuit. It’s unclear what form a dissolution could take, or whether the assets of the named corporate entities could be transferred to out-of-state businesses.
The lawsuit also asks the court to ban the Trumps from serving as officers of a business in the state and to stop the company from engaging in business transactions for five years.
Trump said in a statement last week that “deranged” Engoron was “doing the bidding” of the “biased and corrupt” attorney general.
“Can you imagine ruling against me for having done business perfectly, and yet letting people go on a rampage on the sidewalks of New York?” Trump posted Tuesday evening on the social media platform Truth Social. “A very sad Day for the New York State System of Justice.”
Eric Trump also defended the valuation of Mar-a-Lago, stating that the property “is speculated to be worth over a billion making it arguably the most valuable residential property in the country.”
“Never before have I seen such hatred toward one person by a judge – a coordinated effort with the Attorney General to destroy a man’s life, company and accomplishments,” Eric Trump posted on Truth Social. “We have run an exceptional company – never missing a loan payment, making banks hundreds of millions of dollars, developing some of the most iconic assets in the world. Yet today, the persecution of our family continues…”
Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are all listed as possible witnesses in the trial.
TMX contributed to this article.
