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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Ivanka Trump says father had 'deep and nostalgic love' of golf course

Following a sometimes-tense direct examination by state attorney Louis Solomon, Ivanka Trump is speaking more comfortably, showing more emotion, and offering more lengthy answers to questions during cross examination.

Asked about why the Trump Organization worked with Deutsche Bank to secure financing for its purchase of the Doral golf club in Miami, she spoke wistfully about the property.

"My father had a deep and nostalgic love for that particular property," she testified.

"He told me he took my mother there," she said with a smile, recalling her father bringing her there when she was a child.

"They were really impressed by what we had done over the course of several years in terms of upgrading and refurbishing the property," Ivanka Trump said.


Banks sought to promote ties to Trump Organization, says defense

Deutsche Bank sought to promote its ties to the Trump Organization in marketing materials a decade ago, according to emails shown in court during Ivanka Trump's ongoing cross-examination.

Trump attorney Jesus Suarez showed the emails to demonstrate a key pillar of their defense: that the state's allegations were victimless, and in fact, rather than getting bilked in loan agreements, bankers appreciated -- and even competed for -- the Trump Organization's business.

"I was constantly told by Rosemary and her team how much they appreciated our relationship and ... seeking to grow it," Ivanka Trump testified regarding Deutsche Bank executive Rosemary Vrablic.

Deutsche Bank asked Ivanka Trump to appear in promotional videos for their firm, the emails suggested.


Ivanka Trump says she received $4 million from sale of building

Ivanka Trump acknowledged that she personally received more than $4 million from the Trump Organization's sale of the Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C., last year.

In total, she received $4,013,204 in profit after the building was sold in 2022, according to a document shown in court.

"That is consistent with my recollection, yes," Ivanka Trump said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James had pledged to show that Ivanka Trump personally profited from the fraud the AG says is at the center of the case.

Ivanka Trump has now completed her direct examination and is being cross-examined by defense attorney Jesus Suarez.

Under cross-examination, she repeated that she was not involved with reviewing, approving, or providing values for her father's financial statements, which state attorneys say contained fraudulent valuations.


Jared Kushner would lend 'perspective' on deals, says Ivanka Trump

Ivanka Trump's husband Jared Kushner, who like Ivanka Trump served as a senior adviser in the Trump White House, would frequently weigh in on her family's real estate negotiations in the years before Donald Trump became president, Ivanka Trump testified.

State attorneys shared emails Ivanka Trump had sent her husband during negotiations with bankers over loan interest rates. Asked by state attorney Louis Solomon why she would share those records with Kushner, Trump responded, "It is not uncommon that I would ask my husband's perspective on something I was working on."

"My husband also was in real estate, and would have perspective for me," she said of Kushner, who, like Ivanka Trump, is not a defendant in the case. "So periodically we would discuss what we were working on."

Attorneys for Trump challenged the admissibility of emails belonging to Kushner, citing spousal privilege.

Justice Engoron overruled those objections because they communicated over work emails.

"If you use a work email that is subject to being seen by other people, you waive confidentiality," Engoron said.


Weisselberg concedes Trump's triplex is smaller than valuation

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg testified that Trump's triplex apartment in Trump Tower is 10,996 square feet -- which is a third the size that Trump claimed on financial documents.

In October 1994, Trump signed a document that certified his penthouse triplex is 10,996 square feet, but his statements of financial condition for several years beginning in 2012 listed the apartment as 30,000 square feet.

An attorney with the New York attorney general's office showed the page with Trump's signature to Weisselberg, who appeared to struggle to explain the discrepancy.

"It was always in my mind a de minimis asset on the statement of financial condition," Weisselberg said. "I never even thought about the apartment."

Louis Solomon of the attorney general's office confronted Weisselberg with emails from Forbes magazine seeking clarity about the apartment's size, as well as a letter signed by Weisselberg certifying the 30,000 square foot figure to the Trump Organization's then-accountant, Mazars USA.

Weisselberg offered a lengthy take on the discrepancy, prompting Judge Arthur Engoron to intercede.

"Your role is to answer the questions, not to give speeches. Please just answer the questions," Engoron said.

"Forbes was right, the triplex was actually only 10,996, right?" Solomon asked.

"Right," Weisselberg finally conceded.

"I've been through quite a bit the last two years," Weisselberg said at one point during the morning's questioning. The former CFO moved to Florida following three months in jail after he pleaded guilty last year to criminal fraud charges and subsequently testified against the Trump Organization.