A New York appeal court authorized, this Monday, the former President of the USA to pay a bond of 175 million dollars (around 161 million euros), avoiding a possible seizure of his assets, in a civil fraud case. , when the original sentence forced him to pay a much higher amount, 454 million dollars.
The decision by a panel of five appeal court judges is a “crucial and unexpected victory for the former President”, writes the newspaper The New York Times. If the court had denied Donald Trump’s team’s request, the Republican candidate for the November elections would have run the risk of losing control over his bank accounts and, eventually, could see some of his properties seized.
Donald Trump now has ten days to make the payment and, according to the North American daily, which cites sources close to the Republican, the former President will have the financial capacity to fulfill this requirement. “I very much respect the division of appeal and I will deposit the 175 million dollars in cash or bonds, or whatever is necessary, very quickly,” Trump told reporters, quoted by Reuters, as he left the court.
Still, reducing the amount of the bond does not reduce the amount of the fine that Trump will have to pay if the appeal court confirms the sentence. The deposit functions, rather, as a guarantee that the former President of the USA will pay the amount if the appeal presented by the defense is not successful. This was the same message left by the spokeswoman for New York’s attorney general, Democrat Letitia James, who in a statement to which newspaper The Guardian had access recalled that Trump is still responsible for the full amount of the deposit.
“Donald Trump remains responsible for his fraud. The court has previously found that he engaged, for several years, in fraudulent acts to falsely inflate his net worth and unfairly enrich himself, his family and his organization The $464 million judgment – plus interest – against Donald Trump and other defendants stands,” the statement said.
On social media, Donald Trump once again politicized the court case, targeting the Democrats, approximately eight months before the US presidential elections. “I intended to use much of this hard-earned money to run for president. They don’t want me to do this”, he wrote on the social network Truth Social, accusing his opponents of “electoral interference”.
The investigating judge, Arthur F. Engoron, found Donald Trump responsible for conspiring to inflate his net worth to obtain favorable bank loans and other financial benefits. Among the overvalued properties are homes in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, his apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, and several office buildings and golf courses. The $454 million reflects the interest payments Trump saved by cheating his creditors, as well as profits from the recent sale of two properties.
