Trump has hours to cover $454 million judgment or risk property seizure
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[March 25, 2024]
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a bond
to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment or face the risk of New
York state seizing some of his marquee properties.
Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, must either pay the
money out of his own pocket or post a bond while he appeals Justice
Arthur Engoron's Feb. 16 judgment against him for manipulating his net
worth and his family real estate company's property values to dupe
lenders and insurers.
The Trump campaign on Friday called for donations from "one million
pro-Trump patriots," saying that the "iconic Trump Tower" was among his
properties at risk of seizure.
The case cuts to the core of his public image as a prosperous
businessman. Trump rose to fame as a developer of flashy properties like
Manhattan's Trump Tower and often boasts of his financial success - even
though his companies have at times struggled.
But Trump, the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe
Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election, now faces a web of financial worries
including campaign fundraising lagging behind his rival.
The judgment in the case was entered in Manhattan, where Trump
properties such as Trump Tower or 40 Wall Street may be in the sights of
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who brought the
civil case in 2022.
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James also has notified Westchester County, just north of New York City,
of the judgment, a step toward potentially seizing assets there such as
a Trump golf course and a 60-room mansion and estate called Seven
Springs.
Taking control of Trump's properties would pose a host of legal and
logistical challenges for the attorney general's office. Placing liens
on them to ensure they are not sold or transferred and going after
Trump's liquid assets would be more straightforward.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated.
The first former U.S. president ever to face criminal charges, Trump has
been indicted in four separate cases, pleading not guilty in each.
In one of those cases, a New York judge on Monday is set to hear
arguments on Trump's bid to postpone a mid-April start date over charges
related to hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016
U.S. election.
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![](../images/032524PIX/news_q31.jpg)
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald
Trump reacts during a campaign rally at the Forum River Center in
Rome, Georgia, U.S. March 9, 2024. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer/File Photo
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'FIRE SALE PRICES'
In the civil fraud case, Trump's lawyers have said 30 surety
companies have rejected his requests to post a bond securing the
judgment, and have asked that he be allowed to post $100 million
instead. They have asked a mid-level state appeals court to delay
enforcement of the judgment.
During a 2023 deposition by the attorney general's office, Trump
said his companies had more than $400 million in cash. In a social
media post on Friday, he said he had almost $500 million in cash,
but intended to use much of it on his campaign.
"I will be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire
Sale prices," Trump wrote on social media last week.
Trump came a step closer to a windfall on Friday after investors
approved a $5.7 billion deal to list the company that owns his Truth
Social platform on the stock market. Trump's majority stake in the
company, Trump Media & Technology Group, is worth about $3.3
billion.
But even if the deal gets completed this week, it is unclear if it
would help Trump cover the judgment. That is because he previously
agreed to terms preventing him from selling his shares for six
months or borrowing against them.
Before the three-month, non-jury trial in Manhattan, Engoron found
that Trump had engaged in fraud by overvaluing properties including
his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, his penthouse apartment in
Manhattan's Trump Tower, and various office buildings and golf
courses.
This case is not the only one to drain Trump's finances. Trump this
month posted a $91.6 million bond to cover an $83.3 million
defamation verdict for writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals. She
sued him after Trump called her a liar for accusing him of raping
her decades ago. He has denied wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Additional reporting by Jack
Queen in New York and Nathan Layne in Milton, Connecticut; Editing
by Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder)
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