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.
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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
Defense expert questions insurance company's due diligence
The due diligence conducted by the Trump Organization's insurance company amounted to nothing more than "airballs and witchcraft," according to the defense's underwriting expert Gary Giulietti.
Giulietti's testimony appeared to cast doubt on the extent to which the Zurich Insurance Group scrutinized Trump's financial documents that are at the center of the case.
In a deposition that was played earlier in court, Zurich insurance underwriter Claudia Mouradian said she relied on assurances that the Trump Organization's $6 billion in assets were supported by appraisals.
"They should have asked if they wanted it," Giulietti testified, adding that Zurich's approach of relying on media reports about Trump's net worth was "inconsistent" with industry standards.
Giulietti acknowledged that he had an ongoing business relationship with Trump, including making $1.2 million in commissions from the company in 2022. A personal friend of Trump, Giulietti confidently defended his business record on the stand.
"You're sort of insulting me aren't you?" he said after state attorney Andrew Amer, on cross-examination, questioned his qualifications as an expert witness. "There's no one like me in the industry."
He later said he was sorry for his response.
"I would like to apologize to the counsel. Not my style," he told Amer.
Defense expert appears to contradict his own findings
The cross examination of the defense's real estate expert, which was expected to last at least two hours, ended abruptly after he appeared to contradict his own findings in the expert report he had compiled.
Steven Laposa testified yesterday that he believed the attorney general's report was "flawed" because it was based on the market value of Trump's assets, rather than their investment value, which could be much higher.
Minutes into his cross-examination, state attorney Louis Solomon requested that Laposa read the second sentence of the notes section of Donald Trump's statement of financial condition.
"Assets are stated at their estimated current values," the note said, referring to the properties' market value.
"First time I've seen this," Laposa responded after reading the note, which supported the attorney general's contention that the valuations were indeed based on market values.
"You wrote a report accusing the attorney general of bias" by using market values, Solomon lectured Laposa, prompting a sustained objection from the defense.
Solomon's cross-examination of Laposa concluded after the exchange.
Judge limits testimony about 'trophy properties'
The defense's real estate expert Steven Laposa resumed his testimony this morning by testifying about Donald Trump's "trophy properties."
Under questioning from the defense, Laposa explained that certain unique and iconic properties could be classified as trophy properties, which are generally purchased by a smaller pool of real estate investors. Trump's lawyers have claimed that the former president's assets include multiple trophy properties that were undervalued in his financial statements.
When Laposa attempted to describe how trophy properties are generally valued differently compared to normal buildings, state attorney Louis Solomon objected to the line of questioning, calling it a "waste of time."
Judge Arthur Engoron sustained the objection.
Trump touts defense witnesses' testimony
Following the fourth full day of testimony from witnesses for the defense Thursday, Donald Trump took to social media overnight to tout his case.
The former president posted that defense witnesses have "conclusively" proven that his financial statements were conservative and adequately disclosed, while claiming that New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron "knowingly, substantially, & outrageously" devalued his assets.
After criticizing Engoron's law clerk in a post last night, Trump's latest posts do not reference the clerk, who Trump was previously prohibited from mentioning under the limited gag order that was temporarily lifted yesterday.
Judge appears dubious of defense's latest argument
Court was adjourned for the day following an afternoon in which Judge Engoron appeared to shoot down one of the defense's main remaining arguments following defense attorneys' request for a directed verdict.
Defense lawyer Chris Kise argued that the state failed to prove that Trump's lenders would have acted differently had they known about the fraud alleged by the New York attorney general -- but Engoron said "the mere fact that the lenders were happy doesn't mean the statute wasn't violated."
Earlier this month, during testimony from the defense's first expert witness Steven Witkoff, Trump's lawyers attempted to argue that Trump had undervalued some of his properties, which balanced out the alleged inflated properties in his statement of financial condition. Engoron, however, declined to allow testimony related to that argument, saying, "The reader of the financial statement has the right to know whether each particular number was accurate."
That same day, Trump's lawyers also presented testimony from expert witness Jason Flemmons that Trump disclosed that the values of nearly 95% of the assets in his financial statements departed from generally accepted accounting practices.
"It's effectively saying, 'User beware,'" Flemmons said.
But Engoron said Flemmons only addressed the methods used in the statements, rather than the numbers themselves, which could have been incorrect.
Defense attorneys are scheduled to call additional witnesses over the next week before Eric Trump and Donald Trump return to the stand as the defense wraps up its case in the next two weeks.