Trump appeals $450 million NY fraud finding for decades of misconduct

On February 16, Engoran found that illegal acts were committed when the defendants defrauded lenders and insurance companies by inflating the value of Trump's properties and other assets in annual financial statements between 2011 and 2021 in order to obtain better interest rates and lower insurance costs. Trump and his lawyers have always maintained that none of the parties to their deal were defrauded.

“Petitioners' business partners profited in excess of one hundred million dollars and received extensive benefits from their relationship. [Trump],” the former president's lawyers wrote. « They were domestically interested in their business with him, and more and more interested. »

An appeals court panel may reduce the fine Trump must pay, which represents his ill-gotten gains and another $100 million in interest. His lawyers have requested that the fine be substantially reduced or waived.

Trump's side argued that Engoran ignored a pretrial ruling by the appeals court that had dismissed significant portions of New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit on statute of limitations. The same decision also dismissed Ivanka Trump from the case altogether, leaving her brothers Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump to face trial alongside their father.

Trump's sons were brought as defendants « even though they had no direct role in preparing the challenged (financial) statements, » according to a brief from Trump attorneys.

Trump's defense argues that Engoron used false legal grounds to keep the case intact, saying that civil charges unrelated to Ivanka Trump's relationship cannot be dismissed because aspects of the fraud run past statutes of limitations. Trump argued that the reasoning clearly violated the appeals court's orders.

On February 16, Engoron found that the defendants defrauded lenders and insurance companies by inflating the value of Trump's properties and other assets in order to obtain better interest rates and lower insurance costs. Since the case is a civil case, there is no possibility of jail or prison time for anyone involved.

Separately, Trump was convicted by a jury in New York criminal court in May of falsifying 34 business records for allegedly conspiring to conceal payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in a Trump campaign hack released weeks before the 2016 election. A series of damaging stories about him.

Trump will be sentenced in the case in September and could face prison terms.

Trump attorney Christopher Kiss said in a statement Monday that the lawsuit by James and his office amounted to an abuse of power. Trump, his lawyers and his supporters have long accused James, a Democrat, of being politically motivated by going after Trump.

« This appeal seeks to reverse the legally erroneous decisions of the trial court that ignored undisputed facts, refused to follow the Appellate Division's binding order, imposed harsh, illegal, and unconstitutional sentences, and willingly allowed an irresponsible, politically motivated Attorney General to intervene. Legal, personal and in mutually beneficial transactions,” Kiss said.

James has repeatedly denied any impropriety, and investigators from his office have found clear evidence of wrongdoing and a culture of deceit at the Trump Organization, a real estate, golf resort and hospitality company that Trump owns.

The company remains under the watch of a monitor appointed by Engoran, which ruled in February that monitoring would continue for at least three years.

Engoron's decision included other non-monetary penalties that have the potential to impact the day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization, which is headquartered in Trump Tower in New York. An institution in the state for three years. His sons were forbidden to do so for two years.

Trump is also barred from applying for new loans from financial institutions incorporated or incorporated in New York.