Upset about the multiple court cases against him, former president Donald Trump is formally appealing the New York civil fraud ruling that says he has to pay out nearly half a billion dollars in fines for crimes committed in the state of New York.
According to Trump and his appeal, the $464 million that Trump and other executives of the Trump Organization are being ordered to pay are unfair because nobody was harmed by Trump's questionable business practices.
"This appeal is taken from each and every part of the judgment insofar as defendants are aggrieved," the notice of appeal, filed Monday, reads in part.
The appeal will be filed in the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, reports indicate.
The saga began when New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and other Trump Organization executives for fraud. After a three-month trial, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron found all defendants, Trump included, liable on seven claims.
The case centers around the Trump Organization's annual statements of financial condition, which are more marketing pieces than official financial documents. In these documents, Trump's people summarized company asset values to determine a total net worth figure for Trump.
The court ultimately found that these numbers were routinely inflated, and that these inflated figures were used in deals that defrauded both banks and insurers, causing them to take undue risks.
In Trump's defense, his attorneys argue that nobody was harmed by the inflated numbers. Representatives both from Deutsche Bank and the Zurich Insurance Group also testified on behalf of Trump that in doing business with the Trump Organization, both entities conducted their own independent analyses.
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(Related: Some businessmen have decided to boycott New York over the Trump scandal.)
Trump to be monitored by third party for compliance
As the world now knows, Trump was found to be in the wrong, resulting in a $355 million fine for disgorgement, or recovery of ill-gotten gains. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were also both fined $4 million for the same thing, along with Trump Organization chief financial officer (CFO) Allen Weisselberg who was ordered to pay $1 million.
"The penalties are subject to 9 percent interest and have been backdated depending on the entity at issue," reports explain.
The Trump Organization will also now have to be monitored by a third party, in this case former judge Barbara Jones, as well as by a risk compliance officer. Any associated reports to the court could result in additional penalties being levied against Trump and his associates, including the possible cancellation of their business certificates.
Beyond this, Weisselberg and former Trump Organization comptroller Jeffrey McConney will no longer be allowed to do any kind of business in the industry. Trump himself is barred as well, but for three years. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. will similarly be banned from holding any executive positions for the next two years.
"What they're trying to do between this case [and] my last case is put [Trump] out of business," said Alina Habba, Trump's attorney.
"It's not going to work, number one. Number two, what they're doing is a scare tactic. Unfortunately, they picked the wrong guy to pick on, in my opinion, because he's strong, he's resilient, and he happens to have a lot of cash."
Just prior to the $355 million verdict, Trump was ordered in a separate civil trial to pay $83 million to writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused the former president of defaming her when responding to allegations of sexual assault back in the 1990s.
Shortly after the more recent verdict, Trump posted a screenshot of the Eighth Amendment to social media, which reads:
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
Will Trump succeed in avoiding prosecution? Find out more at Trump.news.
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