{"id":24056,"date":"2024-02-23T01:51:48","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T07:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=24056"},"modified":"2024-02-23T01:52:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T07:52:02","slug":"new-york-ag-says-shell-seize-donald-trumps-property-if-he-cant-pay-454-million-civil-fraud-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=24056","title":{"rendered":"New York AG says she\u2019ll seize Donald Trump\u2019s property if he can\u2019t pay $454 million civil fraud debt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

 NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Donald Trump could be at risk of losing some of his prized properties if he can\u2019t pay his staggering New York civil fraud penalty. With interest, he owes the state nearly $454 million \u2014 and the amount is going up $87,502 each day<\/u><\/a> until he pays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Attorney General Letitia James told ABC News on Tuesday<\/u><\/a> that she will seek to seize some of the former president\u2019s assets if he\u2019s unable to cover the bill from Judge Arthur Engoron\u2019s Feb. 16 ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engoron concluded that Trump lied for years about his wealth<\/u><\/a> as he built the real estate empire that vaulted him to stardom and the White House. Trump denies wrongdoing and has vowed to appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,\u201d James, a Democrat, said in an interview with ABC reporter Aaron Katersky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Trump\u2019s ability to pay his mounting legal debts is increasingly murky after back-to-back courtroom losses. In January, a jury ordered him to pay $83.3 million for defaming<\/u><\/a> writer E. Jean Carroll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Trump claimed last year that he has about $400 million in cash \u2014 reserves that would get eaten up by his court penalties. The rest of his net worth, which he says is several billion dollars, is tied up in golf courses, skyscrapers and other properties, along with investments and other holdings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But don\u2019t expect James to try to grab the keys to Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago immediately. Trump\u2019s promised appeal is likely to halt collection of his penalty while the process plays out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a look at where things stand in the wake of Trump\u2019s costly verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COULD THE STATE REALLY SEIZE TRUMP\u2019S ASSETS?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes. If Trump isn\u2019t able to pay, the state \u201ccould levy and sell his assets, lien his real property, and garnish anyone who owes him money,\u201d Syracuse University Law Professor Gregory Germain said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seizing assets is a common legal tactic when a defendant can\u2019t access enough cash to pay a civil penalty. In a famous example, O.J. Simpson\u2019s Heisman Trophy was seized<\/u><\/a> and sold at auction in 1999 to cover part of a $33.5 million wrongful death judgment against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump could avoid losing assets to seizure if he has enough cash \u2014 or can free up enough cash \u2014 to pay his penalty and mounting interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much he has isn\u2019t clear because most information about Trump\u2019s finances comes from Trump himself via his government disclosures and the annual financial statements that Engoron has deemed fraudulent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump reported having about $294 million in cash or cash equivalents on his most recent annual financial statement for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, according to state lawyers, he added about $186.8 million from selling the lease on his Washington hotel in May 2022 and the rights to manage a New York City golf course in June 2023. Part of Trump\u2019s penalty requires that he give those proceeds to the state, plus interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Engoron\u2019s decision last week<\/u><\/a> spared Trump\u2019s real estate empire from what the Republican front-runner deemed the \u201ccorporate death penalty,\u201d reversing a prior ruling<\/u><\/a> and opting to leave his company in business, albeit with severe restrictions including oversight from a court-appointed monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James didn\u2019t specify to ABC which of Trump\u2019s assets the state might want to seize, though she noted that her office is right across the street from a Trump-owned office building in Lower Manhattan that was the subject of some of the fraud allegations in her lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers,\u201d James told ABC. \u201cAnd yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOW WILL AN APPEAL AFFECT TRUMP\u2019S PENALTY?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With Trump promising to appeal, it\u2019s unlikely he\u2019ll have to pay the penalty \u2014 or face the prospect of having some of his assets seized \u2014 for a while. If he wins, he might not have to pay anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under state law, Trump will receive an automatic stay if he puts up money, assets or an appeal bond covering the amount he owes. A stay is a legal mechanism halting enforcement of a court decision while the appeals process plays out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven if we choose to appeal this \u2013 which we will \u2013 we have to post the bond, which is the full amount and some, and we will be prepared to do that,\u201d Trump lawyer Alina Habba told Fox News on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s lawyers can also ask the appeals court to grant a stay without obtaining a bond or with a bond for a lower amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his Georgia election interference criminal case, Trump paid $20,000 \u2014 or 10% \u2014 for a $200,000 release bond. After losing at a first trial involving Carroll last year, Trump put $5.55 million in escrow to cover the cost of the judgment while he appeals. He has said he would appeal the $83.3 million January verdict but has yet to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf he can\u2019t post a bond or meet the appellate division\u2019s bonding requirements, then I would expect him to file bankruptcy to take advantage of the automatic stay on collection,\u201d Germain said. \u201cBut that\u2019s a couple of chess moves away, so we will just have to see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s vow to appeal all but assures the legal fight over his business practices will persist into the thick of the presidential primary season as he tries to clinch the Republican nomination in his quest to retake the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appeal is also likely to overlap with his criminal trial next month in his New York hush-money case, the first of his four criminal cases to go to trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s 30-day window to appeal won\u2019t start until the clerk at Engoron\u2019s courthouse files paperwork making the verdict official. Engoron sent the paperwork to the clerk\u2019s office Thursday, but it has yet to be filed. The judge rejected a request from Trump\u2019s lawyer Clifford Robert asking for the enforcement of the penalty to be delayed 30 days \u201cgiven the magnitude\u201d of the judgment. Engoron, replying to the lawyer by email, said: \u201cYou have failed to explain, much less justify, any basis for a stay. I am confident that the Appellate Division will protect your appellate rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DOES TRUMP REALLY OWE $87,502 A DAY IN INTEREST?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With each passing day, Trump owes an additional $87,502 in interest on his civil fraud penalty. By Thursday, that\u2019ll be an extra $525,000 since the decision was issued on Feb. 16. The interest will continue to accrue even while he appeals. Barring court intervention or an earlier resolution, his bill will soar to a half-billion dollars by August 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s underlying penalty is $355 million, the equivalent of what the judge said were \u201cill-gotten gains\u201d from savings on lower loan interest and windfall profits from development deals he wouldn\u2019t have been able to make if he\u2019d been honest about his wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under state law, he is being charged interest on that amount at an annual rate of 9%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Wednesday, Trump owed just over $99 million in interest, bringing his total to just under $454 million \u2014 that\u2019s $453,981,779 to be exact, according to the Associated Press\u2019 calculations<\/u><\/a>. Trump\u2019s interest will keep accruing until Trump pays. Trump owes the money individually and as the owner of corporate entities that were named as defendants in James\u2019 lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engoron said the interest Trump owes on about half of the total penalty amount \u2014 pertaining to loan savings \u2014 can be calculated from the start of James\u2019 investigation in March 2019. Interest on the remaining amount \u2014 which pertains to the sale of Trump\u2019s Washington hotel and Bronx golf course rights \u2014 can be calculated starting in May 2022 or June 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all, Engoron ordered Trump and his co-defendants to pay $363.9 million in penalties, or about $464.3 million with interest \u2014 the total bill increases by $89,729 per day, according to AP\u2019s calculations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., must each pay about $4.7 million, including interest, to the state for their shares of the Washington hotel sales. Weisselberg was ordered to pay $1 million \u2014 for half of the $2 million severance he\u2019s receiving \u2014 plus about $100,000 in interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until they pay, Weisselberg is on the hook for another $247 per day, while Trump\u2019s sons each owe an extra $990 per day, according to AP\u2019s calculations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Donald Trump could be at risk of losing some of his prized properties if he can\u2019t pay his staggering New York civil fraud penalty. With interest, he owes the state nearly $454 million \u2014 and the amount is going up $87,502 each day until he pays. New York Attorney General Letitia James told ABC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[22985,1235,1230],"class_list":["post-24056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-civil-fraud","tag-debt","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24056"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24058,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24056\/revisions\/24058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}