Current:Home > InvestTrump’s lawyers say it is impossible for him to post bond covering $454 million civil fraud judgment -Elite Financial Minds
Trump’s lawyers say it is impossible for him to post bond covering $454 million civil fraud judgment
View
Date:2025-04-13 07:22:23
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court Monday that it’s impossible for him to post a bond covering the full amount of his $454 million civil fraud judgment while he appeals.
The former president’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that “obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount” of the judgment “is not possible under the circumstances presented.”
With interest, Trump owes $456.8 million. In all, he and co-defendants including his company and top executives owe $467.3 million. To obtain a bond, they would be required to post collateral worth $557 million, Trump’s lawyers said.
A state appeals court judge ruled last month that Trump must post a bond covering the full amount to pause enforcement of the judgment, which is to begin on March 25.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in February that Trump, his company and top executives, including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., schemed for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
Among other penalties, the judge put strict limitations on the ability of Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, to do business.
Trump is asking a full panel of the state’s intermediate appellate court to stay the judgment while he appeals. His lawyers previously proposed posting a $100 million bond, but appeals court judge Anil Singh rejected that. A stay is a legal mechanism pausing collection while he appeals.
A real estate broker enlisted by Trump to assist in obtaining a bond wrote in an affidavit filed with the court that few bonding companies will consider issuing a bond of the size required.
The remaining bonding companies will not “accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,” but “will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities).”
“A bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen. In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses,” the broker, Gary Giulietti, wrote.
Trump appealed on Feb. 26, a few days after the judgment was made official. His lawyers have asked the Appellate Division of the state’s trial court to decide whether Engoron “committed errors of law and/or fact” and whether he abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction.
Trump wasn’t required to pay his penalty or post a bond in order to appeal, and filing the appeal did not automatically halt enforcement of the judgment.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, has said that she will seek to seize some of Trump’s assets if he’s unable to pay the judgment.
Trump would receive an automatic stay if he were to put up money, assets or an appeal bond covering what he owes. He also had the option, which he’s now exercising, to ask the appeals court to grant a stay with a bond for a lower amount.
Trump maintains that he is worth several billion dollars and testified last year that he had about $400 million in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.
In January, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after she accused him in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. Trump recently posted a bond covering that amount while he appeals.
That’s on top of the $5 million a jury awarded Carroll in a related trial last year.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Devastated Puerto Rico Tests Fairness of Response to Climate Disasters
- Fearing for Its Future, a Big Utility Pushes ‘Renewable Gas,’ Urges Cities to Reject Electrification
- Sarah-Jade Bleau Shares the One Long-Lasting Lipstick That Everyone Needs in Their Bag
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- U.S. Suspends More Oil and Gas Leases Over What Could Be a Widespread Problem
- With an All-Hands-on-Deck International Summit, Biden Signals the US is Ready to Lead the World on Climate
- Allow Kylie Jenner to Give You a Mini Tour of Her California Home
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- The history of Ferris wheels: What goes around comes around
Ranking
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- July Fourth hot dog eating contest men's competition won by Joey Chestnut with 62 hot dogs and buns
- Extra! New strategies for survival by South Carolina newspapers
- California lawmakers to weigh over 100 recommendations from reparations task force
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Controversial BLM Chief Pendley’s Tenure Extended Again Without Nomination, Despite Protests
- Vanderpump Rules Reunion: Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss Confess They’re Still in Love
- Climate Change Will Hit Southern Poor Hardest, U.S. Economic Analysis Shows
Recommendation
See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
Anna Marie Tendler Reflects on Her Mental Health “Breakdown” Amid Divorce From John Mulaney
Warming Trends: A Climate Win in Austin, the Demise of Butterflies and the Threat of Food Pollution
Can Illinois Handle a 2000% Jump in Solar Capacity? We’re About to Find Out.
Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
3 dead, 8 wounded in shooting in Fort Worth, Texas parking lot
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 Teaser Features New Version of Taylor Swift's Song August
Allow Kylie Jenner to Give You a Mini Tour of Her California Home