Donald Trump must post $175 million bond to shield assets in fraud ruling
An appeals court ordered Trump to post a $175 million bond. If he does not pay on time, the attorney general could start seizing his assets.
The New York attorney general’s office is asking a judge to void a $175 million bond posted earlier this month by former President Donald Trump in an attempt to get a bigger payout in his civil business fraud case.
New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that Trump and other defendants could not prove that they could back the bond if their appeal in the case fails, and that Knight Specialty Insurance Company, which Trump used to obtain the bond, isn’t authorized to write bonds in New York.
The request, revealed in a court filing Friday, comes ahead of a court hearing on the bond dispute Monday.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that Knight Specialty Insurance Company is a viable company to write the bond.
If Trump’s payment is not accepted, the state attorney general’s office could swiftly move in on Trump’s bank accounts and real estate if he is not able to put up $175 million in the fraud case.
Judge Arthur F. Engoron in February, found that Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization got better loan and insurance terms by fraudulently inflating the value of his assets over several years. He imposed a $454 million judgment that grows with interest – an amount that Trump’s lawyers argued was “a practical impossibility” to pay.
Trump sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. also face judgments totaling more than $9 million. Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg was ordered to pay over $1 million.
Trump is appealing the decision, but he was required to pay $175 million to guarantee the judgment against him and his co-defendants. The civil fraud case is one of half a dozen civil and criminal cases that the former president is navigating in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election.
Trump also faces a criminal trial related to falsifying business records: In Manhattan, he is currently on trial for 34 charges of falsifying business records to pay hush money to women who claimed to have sex with him.
Contributing: Aysha Bagchi and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
