$450M civil fraud judgment

Judge denies Trump’s bid to stave off enforcement of $450M civil fraud judgment

Earlier in the day, Trump acknowledged problems obtaining a bond to cover the full amount.

By ERICA ORDEN

An appeals court judge on Wednesday denied Donald Trump’s request to pause the enforcement of a $450 million judgment for widespread business fraud, dealing a blow to the former president’s efforts to delay payment.

In a court filing asking for the pause earlier in the day, Trump had signaled that he doesn’t have the cash to prevent the enforcement of the judgment. He asked an appeals court to put a hold on the monetary penalty as well as a series of other penalties ordered earlier this month by Justice Arthur Engoron, who found that Trump had inflated the value of his real estate holdings and his own net worth.

Following Wednesday’s interim ruling by Associate Justice Anil Singh, a full panel of the New York appeals court — known as the First Department of the Appellate Division — is expected to consider whether to halt the judgment while Trump pursues his appeal.

Though he didn’t grant Trump’s primary request, Singh did order a pause of one penalty imposed by Engoron: a three-year ban on Trump obtaining a loan from a New York bank.

That means Trump can seek to obtain an appeal bond for the full amount of the penalty, which would prevent collection efforts while the appeals process proceeds.

In his request to the appeals court, Trump’s lawyers had said that the former president would be unable to secure the full amount for an appeal bond, in part due to the loan restriction imposed by Engoron and due to the costs and fees associated with a bond. They said the full cost would come to more than $550 million.

“The exorbitant and punitive amount of the Judgment coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

Trump’s lawyers had instead offered that Trump could post a $100 million bond — far lower than what would typically be needed to stave off enforcement of the judgment.

Normally, when a defendant appeals a civil judgment, the defendant can prevent collection efforts while the appeal proceeds by either posting the full amount into an escrow fund or by securing a third-party bond to guarantee the full amount.

If Trump fails to obtain a full bond or post the cash himself, New York Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James, who brought the civil fraud lawsuit against the former president, can begin trying to collect the judgment, perhaps by going after Trump’s bank accounts or properties.

Engoron issued his $354.8 million verdict against Trump on Feb. 16 after a three-month trial in Manhattan. With interest, the amount Trump owes is over $450 million. Engoron also issued a three-year ban on Trump running a business in New York.

Trump is separately seeking to postpone any payment on an $83.3 million judgment he owes the writer E. Jean Carroll resulting from a defamation lawsuit. In a court filing last week, Trump asked the judge to allow him to delay payment until after the resolution of post-trial arguments he intends to make and to permit him to post a bond “ in an appropriate fraction of the amount of the judgment.”

The amount that Trump owes on the two massive verdicts climbs by tens of thousands of dollars each day, as interest on them accrues.