Financial constraints hamper $464M bond payment, Trump’s lawyers say
Trump’s legal team asserts inability to pay $464 million bond in New York fraud case
Trump’s lawyers wrote in a court filing that “obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount” of the judgment “is not possible under the circumstances presented.” Trump claimed last year that he has “fairly substantially over $400 million in cash,” but back-to-back courtroom defeats have pushed his legal debt north of a half-billion dollars.
Citing rejections from more than 30 bond underwriters, Trump’s lawyers asked the state’s intermediate appeals court to reverse a prior ruling requiring him to post a bond covering the total amount to halt enforcement while he appeals the judgment in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit.
Trump’s financial constraints are being laid bare as he appeals Judge Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 ruling that he and his co-defendants schemed for years to deceive banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
If the appeals court does not intervene, James, a Democrat, can seek to enforce the judgment starting March 25. She has said she will seize some of Trump’s assets if he cannot pay.
With interest, Trump owes the state $456.8 million, which increases by nearly $112,000 daily. In total, he and his co-defendants, including his company, sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and other executives, owe $467.3 million. Trump’s lawyers said that to obtain a bond, they would be required to post collateral covering 120% of the judgment, or about $557.5 million.
Trump maintains that he is worth several billion dollars, but much of his wealth is tied up in his skyscrapers, golf courses, and other properties. Few underwriters were willing to issue such a large bond, and none would accept Trump’s real estate assets as collateral. Instead, his lawyers said they would require cash or cash equivalents, such as stocks or bonds.
Trump’s lawyers said freeing up cash by offloading some of Trump’s properties in a “fire sale” would be impractical because such cut-rate deals would result in massive, irrecoverable losses.
Trump’s court filings on Monday did not mention the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s potential financial windfall from a looming deal to put his social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, on the stock market under the ticker symbol DJT.
A shareholder meeting is scheduled for Friday. If the deal is approved, Trump will own at least 58% of the shares in the company that runs his Truth Social platform. Depending on the share price, that could be worth several billion dollars.
Trump asks a full panel of the intermediate appeals court, the Appellate Division of the state’s trial court, to stay the Engoron judgment while he appeals. His lawyers previously proposed a $100 million bond. Still, Appellate Division Judge Anil C. Singh rejected that after an emergency hearing on Feb. 28. A stay is a legal mechanism pausing the collection of a judgment during an appeal.
In a court filing last week, Senior Assistant Solicitor General Dennis Fan urged the full appellate panel to reject the defense’s “trust us” argument. He contends that without a bond to secure the judgment, Trump may attempt to evade enforcement later and force the state to “expend substantial public resources” to collect the money owed.
Fan wrote that a complete bond is necessary partly because Trump’s lawyers “have never demonstrated that Mr. Trump’s liquid assets – which may fluctuate over time –will be enough to satisfy the full amount of this judgment following appeal.”
Trump’s lawyers asked the Appellate Division panel to consider oral arguments on its request and preemptively sought permission to appeal a losing result to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.
Singh did grant some of Trump’s requests, including suspending a three-year ban on him seeking loans from New York banks. However, in their court filing Monday, Trump’s lawyers did not address whether they have sought a bank loan to cover the cost of the judgment or obtain cash for use as bond collateral.
Trump appealed on Feb. 26, a few days after Engoron’s judgment was made official. His lawyers have asked the Appellate Division to decide whether Engoron “committed errors of law and fact” and abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction.
Trump wasn’t required to pay his penalty or post a bond to appeal, and filing the appeal did not automatically halt enforcement of the judgment. However, if he put up money, assets, or an appeal bond covering what he owes, he would receive an automatic stay.
Source:AFP
#haber#
