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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Trump arrives in court

Donald Trump has arrived in court for the anticipated testimony of his former lawyer Michael Cohen.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is also attending the trial this morning.

James took her usual seat at the front of the courtroom's gallery, directly behind her team of lawyers at the counsel table.

The courtroom itself is nearly at capacity, with attendance matching the number of observers during the trial's opening statements.


Cohen expected to testify after Mazars attorney

Donald Trump's former lawyer and self-described "fixer" is scheduled as the second witness to testify today at the trial.

Bill Kelly, a lawyer at Trump's former accounting firm, Mazars USA, is set to begin his testimony this morning.

Mazars issued Trump's statements of financial condition before severing its business relationship with the Trump Organization last year and withdrawing the statements issued between 2011 and 2020.

"We have come to this conclusion based, in part, upon the filings made by the New York Attorney General on January 18, 2022, our own investigation, and information received from internal and external sources," Kelly wrote in a 2022 letter to the Trump Organization.


Trump's lawyers appeal sanctions imposed before trial

Trump defense lawyers Chris Kise, Clifford Robert, and Michael Farina have appealed Judge Arthur Engoron's decision to sanction and fine them for making frivolous arguments during pretrial arguments.

On the eve of trial, Engoron sanctioned the attorneys for their "continued reliance on bogus arguments," and ordered each to pay a $7,500 fine.

"Sanctions are the only way to impress upon defendants' attorneys the consequences of engaging in repetitive, frivolous motion practice after this Court," Engoron wrote in his decision at the time.

In their filing, the lawyers have asked an appeals court to determine if Engoron "committed errors of law and/or fact, abused its discretion, and/or acted in excess of its jurisdiction."


Trial delayed until Tuesday due to COVID-19 exposures

Former President Trump's civil fraud trial is adjourned until Tuesday due to COVID-19 exposures, the New York attorney general's office has announced.

Officials did not say who had been exposed or when.

Trump attended the trial on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week and said on Wednesday that he could return to court for the testimony of his former attorney Michael Cohen, which could begin tomorrow.

The trial is scheduled to continue tomorrow morning with testimony from a lawyer at Trump's former accounting firm, Mazars USA, followed by Cohen.

Week Three of the trial concluded on Friday with Judge Engoron fining Trump $5,000 for violating a gag order the judge had issued prohibiting social media posts and statements about the judge's staff.

While Engoron found that Trump's violation was "inadvertent," he threatened additional fines or possibly even jail time if Trump violated the order again.


Statements appear to ignore appraisals of undeveloped lots

Cushman & Wakefield executive David McArdle, who was hired to appraise the value of 71 undeveloped residential units at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, testified that he also conducted multiple appraisals for conservation easements at the property in 2014 and 2015.

Signing a conservation easement would allow the Trump Organization to give up their development rights and treat the difference in property value as a charitable donation, according to the New York attorney general.

By giving up the right to develop the 71 residential units, McArdle found that the donation was worth $43 million, according to an April 2014 appraisal. A later appraisal McArdle conducted in 2015 landed on a similar valuation of $45.2 million.

But Trump's financial statements from those years appear to ignore the appraisals, valuing the land from the undeveloped units at $101 million, according to documents entered into evidence.

"Based on the supporting data, the only source for the increase in the number of units and profit per unit were telephone conversations with Eric Trump," the New York attorney general alleged in her complaint.

McArdle also testified that he was consulted to appraise Seven Springs, a New York estate Trump purchased for $7.5 million in 1995.

To value the property, which could be subdivided into 24 to 26 residential lots, McArdle testified that he toured the site, consulted a local expert, and spoke with Eric Trump on multiple occasions.

"He had a very high opinion of the property, which didn't surprise me," McArdle said.

His appraisal ultimately determined the total value for the lots in 2014 was $30-$50 million, McArdle said.

But the New York attorney general alleges that appraisal was ignored in Trump's 2014 financial statement, in favor of a "false and misleading" value of $161 million for a portion of the undeveloped lots.