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

An insurance company executive testified that the Trump Organization kept its financial documents closely guarded to an unusual extent.

Claudia Mouradian, a senior underwriting officer at Zurich North America, provided the testimony via a deposition video. Mouradian, who lives outside New York and is nine months pregnant, is the only witness who has been excused from in-person testimony.

Mouradian, who began working on the Trump Organization account for Zurich in 2017, said that the Trump Organization placed restrictions on taking financial materials out of their offices.

"It is rare," she said about the restrictions.

When she reviewed Donald Trump's financial statements in 2018, she recalled a one-hour meeting in Trump Tower overseen by then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.

"He took me to the boardroom. He provided me the financial statements. [He said,] 'take as many notes as you would like, no cellphones, no photocopies,'" Mouradian said. "Allen stayed in the room with me."

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump is now scheduled to testify on Wednesday, Nov. 8, after a scheduling conflict necessitated the change.

Her testimony will come at the conclusion of the New York attorney general's case, before the defense puts on its case.

Both parties agreed to in court today to change the date of her appearance from the original date this coming Friday.

Donald Trump Jr. is still set to begin his testimony this Wednesday, and state attorney Andrew Amer suggested that the state will need less than a full trial day top question him.

"Eric Trump should be available to start whenever we finish Donald Trump Jr.," Amer said.

Eric Trump will likely testify through Thursday, and no additional witnesses are currently scheduled to testify on Friday.

"We will leave Friday as a big question mark," Judge Engoron remarked.

Donald Trump is still scheduled to testify on Monday, followed by a day off for Election Day, then Ivanka Trump's testimony on Wednesday.

"Nothing ever goes according to plan," Trump's lawyer Chris Kise joked while agreeing to the arrangement.

When the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation awarded Donald Trump the rights to operate a golf course in Ferry Point Park in 2010, Trump represented that he had a net worth of $3 billion and $200 million in cash on hand, according to documents presented as evidence.

Over the next decade, in letters to the Parks Department, Trump claimed that his net worth was as much as $4.9 billion, according to the evidence.

"We wanted to be sure, as we would always, that the operator in place had the funds to deliver on their obligations," David Cerron, the Parks Department's assistant commissioner for business development and special events, said of the agency's requirements for maintaining the licensing agreement on an ongoing basis.

The New York attorney general alleges that Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion during the timeframe and never actually had more than $2.1 billion to his name.

"Would the Department of Parks and Recreation expect this representation to be true, complete, and accurate?" state attorney Sherief Gaber asked.

"Yes," Cerron said.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Jennifer Hernandez highlighted that Trump's financial capacity was the least significant factor considered in the 2010 agreement, compared to other factors like operating experience and operational plans.

"It had the lowest importance to the selection committee?" Hernandez asked.

"This was the lowest," Cerron responded.

Hernandez also highlighted that Trump was not required to submit his own financial statements and that he never missed any payment or financial obligation related to the licensing agreement.

Trump operated the golf course until its lease was bought out by Bally's in 2020, after the city sought to cut its business ties with Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In 2020, the same year Donald Trump valued his Mar-a-Lago social club at $517 million in his statement of financial condition, the former president's tax representative signed a waiver agreeing with a much lower market value of $27 million, according to documents entered into evidence at trial.

Judge Engoron already determined in a summary judgment that Trump overvalued Mar-a-Lago by "at least 2,300%" by valuing the club between $426 and $612 million in his financial statements, despite the Palm Beach county assessor appraising the value between $18 and $27.6 million between 2011 and 2021. The documents entered into evidence today, as well as testimony from former Trump Organization VP Raymond Flores, adds context regarding who at the Trump Organization could have been aware of the discrepancy.

Trump's tax representative tried to appeal the assessment in 2020 before eventually withdrawing the appeal. In that withdrawal, Trump's representative conceded that "the petitioner agrees with the determination of the property appraiser or tax collector."

"Was it your understanding that the appeal was withdrawn because the Trump Organization agreed with the value of the property assessor?" state attorney Andrew Amer asked Flores about the $27 million valuation.

"Yes," Flores answered.

Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney previously testified that Trump valued Mar-a-Lago as a private residence from 2011 through 2021, despite Trump signing a deed that restricted Mar-a-Lago's usage to a social club, thereby limiting its resale value.

During a 2021 email exchange, Flores forwarded an email to former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and Eric Trump in which Trump's tax broker, Michael Corbiciero, explained the tax implications of classifying Mar-a-Lago as Trump's residence, rather than a social club.

"Currently this property is assessed as a private club with the current assessed value at $359/sqft'' compared to nearby properties valued at nearly ten times the rate, the email stated. Corbisiero ultimately recommended against classifying Mar-a-Lago as a residence rather than a social club due to the tax implications, according to the email forwarded to Eric Trump and Weisselberg.