A New York judge on Friday handed Donald J. Trump a crushing defeat in his civil fraud case, finding the former president liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and ordering him to pay a penalty of more than $350 million that could wipe out his entire stockpile of cash.
The decision by Justice Arthur F. Engoron caps a chaotic, yearslong case in which New York’s attorney general put Mr. Trump’s fantastical claims of wealth on trial. With no jury, the power was in Justice Engoron’s hands alone, and he came down hard: The judge delivered a sweeping array of punishments that threatens the former president’s business empire as he simultaneously contends with four criminal prosecutions and seeks to regain the White House.
Not only did Justice Engoron impose a three-year ban preventing Mr. Trump from serving in top roles at any New York company, including his own, but the judge also applied that punishment to the former president’s adult sons for two years. One of the sons, Eric Trump, is the Trump Organization’s de facto chief executive, and the ruling throws into doubt whether any member of the family can run the business in the near term.
Mr. Trump will appeal the financial penalty — which could climb to $400 million or more once interest is added — but will have to either come up with the money or secure a bond within 30 days. The ruling will not render him bankrupt, because most of his wealth is tied up in real estate.
Donald Trump’s wealth was decimated on Friday when a New York judge ordered him and his lieutenants to pay more than $364 million for engaging in bank fraud, simultaneously yanking away the family’s control of his eponymous real estate company.
Importantly, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur F. Engoron also blocked Trump from borrowing money at any bank in New York for three years, erecting an enormous barrier to his ability to appeal the judgment, potentially forcing him to sell one of his prized buildings or golf courses.
The tycoon’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, were also ejected from their leadership positions and can no longer be the company’s executive vice presidents—or even lead any other corporations in New York for two years. They’re also on the hook for millions of dollars in fines.
“This court is mindful that this action is not the first time the Trump Organization or its related entities has been found to have engaged in corporate malfeasance,” Engoron wrote. “This is not defendants’ first rodeo.”
The fine is some $16 million less than the $370 million the attorney general’s office asked the judge to force Trump to pay. It also blocks Trump from participating in New York business for three years.
Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, were ordered to pay more than $4 million each, and ex-chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was ordered to pay $1 million.
Weisselberg was also blocked from New York business for three years, and both he and former controller Jeffery McConney were barred for life from serving “in the financial control function” of any New York corporation or business entity.
“In order to borrow more and at lower rates, defendants submitted blatantly false financial data to the accountants, resulting in fraudulent financial statements,” Engoron wrote. “When confronted at trial with the statements, defendants’ fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality, and defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences.”
