Trump’s lawyers applied to the New York Court of Appeals to halt the total collection of the fine.
In the petition, the lawyers argued that the provisions of the judgment in the case were exorbitant and made it “impossible for Trump to secure the full amount of the penalty,” adding that they were prepared to pay a $100 million bond to stop the collection of the total 454 million in penalties.
The lawyers argued that Trump had difficulty securing the total amount requested during the appeals process because the sentence “prohibits him from taking out loans from banks”.
On February 16, Judge Arthur Engoron, presiding over the case known as real estate fraud, fined Trump, his children and the company a total of more than $364 million.
Trump appealed the decision to the New York Court of Appeals earlier this week.
But while the case is pending on appeal, Trump must provide the total amount as collateral by March 25 to prevent the New York Attorney General’s Office from seizing his assets through criminal warrants.
Trump owes around $454 million in legal fees, including $88.3 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll for sexual harassment and defamation, fines in a real estate fraud case, and court costs.
Fraud case against Trump
In the indictment, New York Attorney General Letitia James claimed that Trump, his three children and his company overstated his wealth by 3.6 billion dollars, and asked the judge to ban Trump and his children from establishing companies in New York, buying commercial real estate for 5 years and fined them 370 million dollars.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that former President Trump and his “Trump Organization” defrauded banks, insurers and business people by overvaluing his assets and overstating his net worth in contracts and financing documents in a lawsuit filed on charges that he “defrauded numerous individuals and institutions in the real estate industry for years.”
In a 35-page ruling, Engoron stated that Trump, his company and its executives obtained favorable loans and low insurance premiums by repeatedly lying about their annual financial situation.
The hearings, which began on October 2, 2023, ended with closing statements on January 11, and on February 16, Judge Engoron fined Trump $354.9 million, his children Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump $4 million each, and the company’s former chief financial officer $1 million for “fraudulent conduct in the real estate industry”.
In addition to a total of 364 million dollars in fines in the case, Trump was banned for three years and his children for two years each from serving as senior officials in his companies in New York and from taking loans from banks.
