Photo: Giorgio Viera Agence France-Presse Donald Trump still denounces “a political witch hunt”.
Nicolas Revise – Agence France-Presse in New York
4:19 p.m.
- United States
Donald Trump must provide New York justice by Monday with a guarantee that he will pay nearly half a billion dollars in fines for financial fraud within his real estate empire, after his civil conviction in February. At the risk of a “humiliating” seizure of one’s assets or a declaration of bankruptcy.
He and his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, appealed a resounding ruling by New York Judge Arthur Engoron on February 16 to pay approximately US$464 million in financial damages , some 355 million and 100 million in interest for Donald Trump, eight million dollars plus interest for his sons.
But what will happen if the businessman — who prides himself on being a billionaire and having “more than $400 million in cash” — cannot guarantee by Monday, March 25, that he will pay this astronomical sum by providing a legal guarantee ?
“If Trump cannot pay this bail of half a billion dollars, he will face humiliation and serious financial consequences,” responds to Agence France-Presse on Professor Carl Tobias, of the University of Richmond School of Law in Virginia.
The person concerned again raged on Thursday in a press release against an “unconstitutional and illegal requirement for financial guarantee”.
“Democratic Clique”
The former Republican occupant of the White House, who dreams of being re-elected in November against Democratic President Joe Biden, still denounces “a political witch hunt” led according to him by the attorney general of the State of New York Letitia James, “racist and corrupt,” and Judge Engoron “controlled by the Democratic clique.”
The African-American magistrate — elected from the Democratic Party and who enjoys a function and a political role in New York — sued the Trumps and their group, the Trump Organization, in civil proceedings in October 2022 , dragging them from last October to January before the Supreme Court of the State of New York, a trial court in Manhattan.
Until they were convicted last month.
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A judgment that the former president describes as “bogus” and against which he filed at least two separate appeals: before a Court of Appeal and before judges of an appeal section of the New York Supreme Court.
Ms. James gave him 30 days to provide his deposit, a deadline which expires on Monday.
If all avenues of appeal are exhausted, Donald Trump “could sell his real estate or the assets attached to it, try to obtain a bank loan or even declare personal bankruptcy”, lists the Professor Tobias.
But “this last option would not suspend the trial judgment against Trump, because the attorney general would probably seek to declare him responsible for his debts”, continues the lawyer.
“Seizure” of Trump’s assets
And, he adds, “if Trump misses the Monday deadline, the attorney general may try to seize the money he holds in New York and some of his real estate linked to the case”, an allusion to Trump Tower on 5th Avenue and a building on Wall Street.
But given the thunderclap that these seizures would represent and the enormous political pressure on the New York justice system, it is possible, argues Mr. Tobias, that the prosecutor James “gives him more time or negotiates a settlement.”
In a 5,000-page court document released Monday, Mr. Trump's lawyers argued that $464 million in bail was “virtually impossible,” saying they had been turned down by around thirty specialized guarantee companies.
The New York Supreme Court Appellate Division already rejected a partial bail offer of $100 million on February 28.
Trump father and son also appealed their ban on running businesses in New York State for three and two years respectively.
The tycoon, who made his fortune in real estate before upsetting the democracy of the world's leading power, also during his civil trial publicly denigrated the magistrates James and Engoron, facts for which he paid $15,000 fines.