Trump civil fraud case: Judge fines Trump $354M, says frauds 'shock the conscience'

The former president was found to have defrauded lenders.

Last Updated: October 13, 2023, 12:20 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump has been fined $354.8 million plus approximately $100 million in interest in a civil fraud lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel him to the White House. In the decision, Judge Arthur Engoron excoriated Trump, saying the president's credibility was "severely compromised," that the frauds "shock the conscience" and that Trump and his co-defendants showed a "complete lack of contrition and remorse" that he said "borders on pathological."

Engoron also hit Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump with $4 million fines and barred all three from helming New York companies for years. New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump and his adult sons of engaging in a decade-long scheme in which they used "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation" to inflate Trump's net worth in order get more favorable loan terms. The former president has denied all wrongdoing and has said he will appeal.

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Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Feb 16, 2024, 4:07 PM EST

Summary of penalties

Donald Trump and his adult sons were hit with millions in fines in the civil fraud trial and barred for years from being officers in New York companies. The judge said the frauds "shock the conscience."

Donald Trump: $354 million fine + approx. $100 million in interest
+ barred for 3 years from serving as officer of NY company
Donald Trump Jr.: $4 million fine
+ barred for 2 years from serving as officer of NY company
Eric Trump: $4 million fine
+ barred for 2 years from serving as officer of NY company
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg: $1 million fine
+ barred for 3 years from serving as officer of NY company
+ barred for life from financial management role in NY company
Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney:
+ barred for 3 years from serving as officer of NY company
+ barred for life from financial management role in NY company

Oct 12, 2023, 3:45 PM EDT

Trump Organization executive takes the stand

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has completed his direct examination, although he might be called back to testify by either the attorney general or the defense, Judge Arthur Engoron said.

"I am lifting the prohibition on discussing the case with counsel or anyone else," Engoron said about Weisselberg.

Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney, who as assistant vice president took over managing Trump's statement of financial condition after controller Jeffrey McConney, took the stand following Weisselberg.

Oct 12, 2023, 3:06 PM EDT

Ex-Trump CFO testifies about family members' roles

Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg, under questioning from state attorney Louis Solomon, addressed the degree to which Donald Trump's three adult children -- Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka -- were involved in the day-to-day running of the Trump Organization during the period from 2011-2022.

"They wanted to get up to speed on how the business was running," Weisselberg said, noting that Trump's run for president accelerated their engagement in the company.

Emails entered into evidence from around that time suggested that the three Trump children requested financial information about the company's operations.

During one email exchange, Weisselberg directly asked Eric Trump to delay paying off a loan related to Trump's Seven Springs estate so it wouldn't affect the former president's cash balance.

"If we have to pay off the loan I would like to do it post June 30th as that is the date of your dad's annual financial statement ... to keep his cash balance as high as possible," the April 2015 email said.

Oct 12, 2023, 2:38 PM EDT

Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg returns to the stand

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has returned to the stand, nine months after he was sentenced to five months in prison for evading more than $1.7 million in taxes on unreported income in the form of company-provided perks.

One day before his sentencing in January, Weisselberg signed a severance agreement with his former employer saying that if he complied with all the conditions of the agreement, he would receive $2 million spread out over two years, according to court records.

Former Trump Organization Executive Allen Weisselberg arrives for a sentencing hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 10, 2023, in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

One of those conditions, state attorney Louis Solomon highlighted in court, prevented Weisselberg from voluntarily cooperating with an investigation of his former company or boss.

"I didn't give it a lot of thought, to be honest," Weisselberg said when asked about the section of the agreement preventing him from cooperating with investigators.

"Is it just a coincidence that under this severance agreement, you are being paid $2 million, which is coincidentally the exact amount you were ordered to pay under your guilty plea?" Solomon asked.

"Coincidence," Weisselberg replied.

Oct 12, 2023, 1:38 PM EDT

Bank's loans to Trump were 'good credit decision,' says exec

Deutsche Bank's $378 million in loans to the Trump Organization was a "good credit decision," the bank's former risk management executive told the court at the end of more than a day of testimony.

"I think we did a reasonably thorough analysis of the information," former Deutsche Bank executive Nicholas Haigh testified under cross-examination by the defense.

An internal Deutsche Bank group evaluated Trump's financial information, personally visited Trump Organization offices to review bank and brokerage records, and conducted some appraisals of property explicitly used as collateral, according to Haigh.

Though the value that Deutsche Bank determined for the properties often differed by hundreds of millions of dollars compared to the Trump-provided value, the entities continued to have what internal bank documents described as a "long and satisfactory relationship."

"Using a Deutsche Bank-adjusted value for the assets, the net worth still exceeded $2.5 billion," Haigh said, referring to Trump's net worth as it related to a loan covenant.

When Trump decided to run for president and won the election, Deutsche Bank was supportive of the business relationship, though management was careful to monitor their particularly high-profile client, according to internal bank documents presented at trial.

"Note that the relationship continues to be monitored at the highest levels of senior management within the firm and any issues arising from the Guarantor's status as President of the United States are immediately addressed, taken to the appropriate Reputation Risk committee, and discussed with appropriate legal counsel," a credit report said.

When asked directly if the decision to work with Trump was a "good credit decision" by defense attorney Clifford Robert, Haigh responded, "I generally agree with that."

During redirect questioning, state attorney Kevin Wallace stopped short of directly asking Haigh if he would have still done business with Trump had he known about the inflated value of Trump's assets. But he asked Haigh whether Trump's financial information could have been incomplete.

"You have no way of knowing if there was information that wasn't provided to you?" Wallace asked.

"That is correct," Haigh said, marking the end of his questioning.

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