Former President Donald Trump faces 91 criminal charges in other cases.
Washington:
Donald Trump is facing a deadline to secure a $500 million bond as he appeals his financial fraud case and could face bankruptcy or asset forfeiture if he fails.
The former president, who has secured the Republican nomination for this year’s presidential election, is appealing a $355 million fine and interest after a New York court ruled that he, his sons and his Trump Organization lied for years about the value of their assets. assets, defrauding banks and insurance companies.
But he must guarantee that he will pay the fine if his legal battle fails.
Before entering politics, Trump built his public profile in New York as a real estate developer and businessman. But even though the real estate mogul has an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion, his lawyers say it has so far been impossible to come up with the $454 million in bonds due Monday.
Typically, such bonds will be underwritten by an insurance company or a professional bond company.
But Trump’s lawyers wrote in court documents that after approaching 30 such companies, none would pledge real estate held by the former president as collateral, making it “practically impossible” to obtain the bond. .
“It seems clear to me, based on the documents, that the problem he faced was that any assets he owned had been used” for other loans, former federal prosecutor Andrew Weisman told AFP.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, added that if Trump is unable to pay, “he will face humiliation and severe financial harm.”
The former president is pursuing multiple appeals, including one before New York’s Supreme Court, where he denounced the judges who made the ruling as “dishonest” and “Trump haters.”
But a 30-day grace period on the money is set to expire on Monday, raising the possibility that unless a court steps in or New York’s attorney general gives him more time, Trump may need to “sell his properties or related assets, trying to keep banks safe”. loans and even declared bankruptcy,” Tobias said.
Tobias told AFP that even bankruptcy would not prevent authorities from claiming Trump’s funds and that Attorney General Letitia James was able to freeze his accounts and even seize certain properties related to the case.
“I will be forced to mortgage or sell a large number of assets, perhaps at a low price, and if I win my appeal, they will be gone,” Trump said in a social media post.
“Election interference!” he charged in another post, while also calling James, a Democrat, “corrupt and racist.”
Last month, Trump offered to post a $100 million bond as part of his appeal, but a New York Supreme Court Appellate Division judge rejected the offer.
As part of the fraud ruling, Trump was also banned from operating a business in New York state for three years.
He was also barred from seeking loans from New York institutions, though a judge vacated that part of the ruling as Trump sought to guarantee his bond.
Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges in other cases, has used his legal woes to inflame supporters and denounce his likely rival, President Joe Biden, claiming the court case is “just a way to hurt me in the election.” “.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
