Former President Donald Trump and his sons ordered to pay $364 million in a lawsuit filed Friday in New York State Supreme Court.
The civil suit, filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleges that President Trump defrauded banks and other entities by overestimating the value of his property in order to obtain favorable bank loans and other benefits. insisted.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who previously ruled in September that Trump did commit fraud, issued his sentencing decision on Friday.
“There was overwhelming evidence from both interested parties and disinterested witnesses, supported by documentary evidence, that the reward for being truthful in evaluating supporting data was on the Trump Organization, not the accountants. ,” the judge wrote.
In his 91-page judgment, Engoron found that the president’s son, Eric Trump, was liable for $4 million in damages, and that his other son, Donald Trump Jr., was also liable for $4 million. Stated.
The ruling also prohibits Trump from “serving as an officer or director of a New York corporation or other New York corporation for a period of three years.”
Trump’s lawyers argued that real estate valuations are highly subjective and also argued that no victims were identified in the case.
The incident became a sensation after the former president harshly criticized Engoron, who posted a photo of him with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Mr. Engoron fined Mr. Trump and threatened to impose even heavier fines if he did not stop attacking judges and clerks.
One small victory for Trump was a judge revoking an earlier order invalidating Trump and his organization’s business license in New York. The penalty was rejected by the Court of Appeal in October and postponed.
Engoron criticized the defendant for showing no remorse in the case.
“Their complete lack of repentance and remorse borders on the pathological,” he wrote. “They are only charged with inflating property values to make more money. Documents prove this time and time again. This is a venial crime, not a capital crime. The defendant is charged with murder. Donald Trump is no Bernard Madoff, but the defendants are unable to admit the error of their ways. ”
The former president’s lawyer, Alina Haba, called the verdict “a clear injustice, plain and simple.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization called the ruling a “serious miscarriage of justice. The Trump Organization has never missed a loan payment or been in default on a loan.”
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said on CNN that the order is a “devastating outcome for Mr. Trump and his companies.”
Here’s more about President Trump’s fraud conviction.
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