New York Attorney General Letitia James scored a major win in her civil suit against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday as a judge ruled the GOP frontrunner had indeed committed fraud for years.
Judge Arthur Engoron “found that the former president and his company deceived banks, insurers, and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing,” reported the Associated Press Tuesday.
James is suing the Trump Organization for $250 million in penalties and to ban Trump from doing business in New York.
Donald Trump and his company “repeatedly” violated state fraud law, a New York judge ruled Tuesday.
“The documents here clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business,” Engoron wrote in his ruling, in which he ordered the defendants’ New York business certificates canceled. He ordered that within 10 days, they must recommend potential independent receivers to manage the dissolution of the canceled LLCs.
The decision by Justice Arthur F. Engoron precedes a trial that is scheduled to begin Monday, and could considerably smooth Attorney General Letitia James’s path.
Justice Engoron’s decision narrows the issues that will be heard, effectively deciding that the trial was not necessary to find that Mr. Trump was liable and that the core of Ms. James’s case was valid. It represents a major blow to Mr. Trump, whose lawyers had sought to persuade the judge to throw out many of the claims against the former president.
The judge also ordered sanctions against Mr. Trump’s lawyers for making arguments that he previously rejected. He ordered each to pay $7,500.
NEW: If I am reading this right, Judge Engoron has found that Donald Trump committed fraud and has ordered the cancellation of all of his New York business certificates and the dissolution of the Trump Organization.
Here’s Trump’s response to the rulings. Oddly, it’s dated 9/25. Did he get a heads-up?
