Donald Trump secures $175 million bond to safeguard assets from New York Attorney General in civil fraud case.
In a significant development, Former President Donald Trump and several others involved in a civil fraud case in New York have managed to secure a $175 million bond. This comes after an appeals court ruled that they didn’t need to come up with the originally demanded $464 million to prevent the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, from seizing their assets.
The pressure had been mounting for Trump and his associates over the past month to produce cash or find a bonding company willing to cover the approximately $454 million judgment they faced. This judgment, imposed by Judge Arthur F. Engoron, included interest and was based on the conclusion that Trump had fraudulently inflated the value of his assets to gain better loan and insurance terms over several years. Notably, Trump’s sons, Eric and Don Jr., also faced significant judgments totaling over $9 million, while former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg was ordered to pay over $1 million.
Knight Specialty Insurance Company, with its principal place of business in Los Angeles, provided the bond, meeting New York’s requirements to ensure the bond’s payment as per a court filing made on Monday.
The timing was crucial for the former president. On the deadline day of March 25, the appeals court granted him and his co-defendants an additional 10 days to post just $175 million to shield themselves from asset seizure until Trump’s appeal runs its course.
Following the ruling, Trump expressed his satisfaction while denouncing the trial court’s judgment as “ridiculous and outrageous.” Meanwhile, Letitia James emphasized that the full judgment still stands, reiterating that Trump remains accountable for what she termed as “staggering fraud.”
Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, stated on Monday that Trump fulfilled his promise by posting the bond and expressed optimism about vindicating his rights on appeal.
The road to securing the bond was not without challenges. Trump and his associates argued before the appeals court that obtaining a $464 million bond was “a practical impossibility.” They disclosed that they approached 30 bonding companies, none of which were willing to issue a bond of such magnitude without substantial collateral in cash or its equivalents.
James’ office contested some of Trump’s assertions, suggesting that he could have divided the bond into smaller chunks with different bonding companies to spread the risk. They also questioned the reliability of the statements made by Trump’s lawyers regarding their struggle to obtain a bond.
Earlier attempts by Trump, such as an emergency request for a $100 million appeal bond, were swiftly rejected by the appeals court. However, the decision on March 25 to reduce the bond amount to $175 million came from the panel of judges, although they did not provide an explanation for their ruling.
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