In a fresh submission to the appellate court on Monday, the counsel for former President Donald Trump stated that he is having “insurmountable difficulties” getting a bond to satisfy the $464 million civil fraud judgment. Because of the amount involved, he may have to use real estate as security.
In February, Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump guilty of conducting a decade’s worth of business using false financial statements that exaggerated his real estate assets and inflated his fortune, and he sentenced him to pay $464 million in disgorgement and interest.
A three-year ban on Trump’s ability to run any New York-based corporation was also imposed. Additionally, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. each received a $4 million fine and a two-year ban.
Alan Garten, chief counsel for the Trump Organization, affirms that “Defendants have faced what have proven to be insurmountable difficulties in obtaining an appeal bond for the full $464 million.”
Despite Garten’s assertion that Trump is “financially stable” and possesses “substantial assets,” the severity of the ruling would necessitate using his real estate as bond security.
Garten’s confirmation states that as of right now, none of the surety bond companies that Trump has contacted are prepared to take real estate as collateral. This includes Chubb, the massive insurance company that is financing Trump’s $91.6 million bond to pay the $83 million verdict plus interest in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case.
The complaint claims that the president of insurance surety Lockton businesses, Gary Guilietti, who provided testimony during Trump’s trial on behalf of his client, assisted in arranging the Trump Organization’s approach to bond businesses. In an affidavit, Guilietti stated that the Trump Organization’s sole alternative is to post $557,491,716 in cash and cash equivalents, which make up 100% of the bond, since surety companies have refused to permit the Trump Organization to utilize its properties as collateral.
“While it is my understanding that the Trump Organization is in a strong liquidity position, it does not have $1 billion in cash or cash equivalents,” Guilietti stated.
Protesting against a lower bail, the New York Attorney General’s Office claims that Trump and his accomplices “will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment or to make enforcement more difficult.”
The former president has declared he will file an appeal and denied any misconduct.
In addition to 9% post-judgment interest when the court enters a judgment in the case, Engoron ordered Trump to pay pre-judgment interest on each ill-gotten income, with interest accruing based on the date of each transaction.
Will Thomas, a professor of commercial law at the University of Michigan, recently told that the interest will probably influence how the former president handles his appeal in addition to adding to his already-rising legal expenses.
Thomas claims that unless Trump pays the entire sum of the fine into an escrow account, he will continue to accrue interest on the fine during his protracted appeal of Engoron’s decision.
Although Trump’s appeal will automatically halt the execution of Engoron’s decision, he must first deposit funds into an escrow account or provide collateral in order to file the appeal.
In the event that Trump chooses to post a bond to pay the fine while he files an appeal, interest will keep coming due and may total tens of millions of dollars.
