NEWS
NY AG Letitia James Calls For $370 Million In Penalties Against Trump, Companies
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The New York Attorney General’s Office on Friday argued former President Donald Trump and his companies should pay $370 million in penalties for their long-running financial fraud.
The number is far higher than the $250 million New York Attorney General Letitia James originally requested when her office filed its civil fraud lawsuit against Trump, based on new evidence of ill-gotten gains uncovered at trial.
The AG is also calling for a lifetime ban on Trump and two of his former executives from the real estate industry in the state, according to post-trial motions filed Friday.
Prosecutors said Trump owes $168 million of interest allegedly saved through fraud; $152 million from the sale of the Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C., which was the site of a Trump hotel before its sale; $60 million for the Ferry Point Golf Course contract transfer; and $2.5 million from the severance agreements of former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Howard Weisselberg and former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney.
Prosecutors also requested that Trump, Weisselberg and McConney be banned for life from participating in the real estate industry in New York, and from serving as officers or directors of New York companies. The AG also called for five-year bans on Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Closing arguments in the civil fraud trial are scheduled for next week, and Judge Arthur Engoron is expected to determine penalties by the end of the month.
At the outset of the trial, Engoron had already found 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 for overvaluing assets for a decade, and revoked the Trump Organizations business certification in the state.
The state did not have to prove at trial that the financial statements were fraudulent, but several other claims argued, including allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records and insurance fraud.
TMX contributed to this article.
