Donald Trump has suffered a serious setback as a result of a judge's decision in his civil fraud trial on Friday. He is no longer allowed to lead the New York-based corporation that has long been the center of his vast international commercial empire.
(Photo : by Scott Olson/Getty Images)Donald Trump has suffered a serious setback as a result of a judge's decision in his civil fraud trial on Friday.
Judge Arthur Engoron of the New York Supreme Court ruled in a 92-page opinion that Trump would not be allowed to serve as an officer or director of any company or other legal body in the state for three years, and that his sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., would be prohibited for two years.
A $354 million fine was also imposed on Trump and The Trump Organization, making this one of the toughest corporate punishments in New York history. When one accounts for pre-judgment interest, the amount increases to $453.5 million.
According to a ruling made by Engoron last autumn, Trump and his business, the Trump Organization, "repeatedly" broke state fraud laws by falsifying information about the value of certain of his properties and his total net worth. In her lawsuit against Trump, New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that this gave his company access to loan rates and other financial arrangements that they otherwise would not have been able to get.
James explicitly accused others of forging financial statements, insurance fraud, and company record falsification. Trump's deceit, according to James' office, allowed the business to amass $370 million in "ill-gotten gains."
The decision on Friday also designates Judge Barbara Jones to serve as an impartial watchdog over Trump's economic ventures for a minimum of three years. Engoron rules that the Trump Organization must appoint an independent director of compliance, whose duties will include "ensuring good financial and accounting practices."
According to John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School and an authority on corporate governance and white collar crime, it's feasible that Trump will choose a reliable advisor to manage his company during the three-year ban.
The fraud complaint first listed Ivanka Trump as a defendant. However, the state's statute of limitations caused an appellate court to subsequently reject the charges against her. Ivanka Trump was an executive at The Trump Organization.
Trump, who is anticipated to file an appeal, denounced the decision in a statement, labeling it as "unAmerican" and "a Complete and Total SHAM."
Shortly later, a federal jury decided that Trump had to pay $83.3 million in damages for false statements he made to disavow his sexual assault of author E. Carroll Jean. Trump is also up against a slew of other lawsuits.
According to Columbia's Coffee, Trump may have his damages down through an appeal. However, he continued, Trump would need to post a bond equal to the $354 million in fines in order to file an appeal.
Trump and his legal team had long anticipated a loss; before the verdict was even rendered, they were calling the case "rigged" and "sham" and Trump's attorneys were preparing the grounds for an appeal.
Engoron discovered in 2023 that Trump and his business had exaggerated the values of many properties by hundreds of millions of dollars. The judge referenced the Palm Beach, Florida, real estate assessor's $18 million appraisal of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, which he paid local property taxes on.
In his yearly financial situation reports, Trump valued the property at up to $714 million at the same time.In addition, there are four criminal processes in which Trump is charged. The first trial is set to start in Manhattan on March 25 and is around a 2016 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He entered not guilty pleas in each of the four instances.
