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

The former president was found to have defrauded lenders.

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.


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


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'My father will send you' his statement, Ivanka Trump said in email

Poised and patient on the witness stand, Ivanka Trump described how her husband, Jared Kushner, introduced her to Deutsche Bank's private wealth management division, for which she later became the Trump Organization's liaison and worked to arrange financing for the firm's purchase of the Doral golf club in Miami.

She was shown an email in which she told a different potential lender that "my father will send you his most recent financial statement," a potential indication of the document's importance despite former President Trump's prior testimony that the banks didn't care about his financial statements when deciding whether to loan him money.

"They were just something that you would have," Trump said during his testimony Monday about the statements at the center of the case.


Ivanka Trump avoids courtroom photos

Unlike her father and brothers, who, when they testified, were photographed by news photographers at the defense counsel table alongside their lawyers before taking the stand, Ivanka Trump appears to have avoided her courtroom photo opportunity.

While her father and brothers are defendants in the case, Ivanka Trump is a third-party witness. No photographers were allowed in the courtroom this morning.


Ivanka Trump takes the stand

"The people call Ivanka Trump," state attorney Louis Solomon said.

"Who's she?" Judge Arthur Engoron responded jokingly.

After a few awkward minutes of waiting, Ivanka Trump entered the courtroom, walked toward the judge, and took her place in the courtroom's witness box. She did not address or make eye contact with Letitia James as she passed the New York attorney general.

"Do you solemnly swear or affirm that any testimony you give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" a court officer asked her.

"I do," she responded with her right hand raised.


Ivanka Trump benefited from fraud, NY AG says

Speaking to reporters outside court this morning, New York Attorney General Letitia James said that today's testimony will demonstrate that Ivanka Trump personally benefited from the fraud that a judge has ruled her family committed.

"We uncovered the scheme and she benefited from it personally," James told reporters. "And Ms. Trump will do all that she can to try to separate herself from his corporation, but she is inextricably tied to the Trump Organization and to these properties that she helped secure financing for."

James has taken a seat in the front row of the courtroom's gallery, feet from her team of lawyers at the state's counsel table.


Deutsche Bank courted Trump for more business, referrals

Deutsche Bank executives courted Donald Trump to attract more business and referrals, viewing the former president as an opportunity to sell services to his family members and other high-net-worth individuals, according to the testimony of former Deutsche Bank managing director Rosemary Vrablic.

"Given the circles this family travels in, we expect to be introduced to the wealthiest people on the planet," Vrablic wrote to colleagues while courting Trump in the early 2010s, according to materials entered into evidence.

Recruiting Trump stemmed from a 2007 effort in the bank to develop a broader commercial real estate financing division for their high-net-worth individuals.

"He would have fit the category of the entrepreneur and investor with a successful track record," Vrablic testified on the stand regarding Trump's profile.

After being introduced to Donald Trump Jr. through Ivanka Trump's now-husband Jared Kushner, Vrablic began pursuing Donald Trump's business.

"We are whale hunting ... Haven't seen him yet. Also maybe Dad will convert like Ivanka did," Vrablic wrote in a 2011 email to a colleague.

"It is a term used when there is a very high-net-worth individual who is a prospect," Vrablic said in explaining why she referred to Trump as a "whale."

Once Trump was on board, leadership from the bank personally courted Trump to do more business with the bank and to connect them to other potential clients. The former CEO of the bank personally met with Trump with the express goal of gaining more deposits from Trump and leveraging Trump's relationships.

CEO Anshu Jain "thought that if Mr. Trump wanted to, there could be additional leverage provided among his world," Vrablic testified.

The effort appeared to work, as the bank made over $3 million in revenue from Trump in 2013, up from only $13,000 in 2011.