The fate of Donald Trump’s economic empire hangs in the balance, according to a judge in New York state.
Judge Arthur Engoron is about to decide, following a controversial eleven weeks of trial, on the amounts owed by Trump and his co-defendants for suspected fraud and whether the ex-president may continue to do business in the state. He has already found that Trump was dishonest.
Democrat Letitia James of New York is suing Trump and others in a legal case, initially asking $250 million but now wanting $370 million. By submitting false financial documents, she claims, Trump was able to get preferential rates on loans and insurance.
Accusations of fraud involving Trump’s Trump Tower apartment, Mar-a-Lago residence and many golf courses are at the centre of the trial, which goes to the core of Trump’s image as a successful entrepreneur.
By January 31, Engoron plans to have made his decision.
What’s on the line
James has filed a disgorgement suit against Trump and the other defendants, seeking $370 million in ill-gotten gains.
Engoron has previously determined that Trump is guilty of fraud and has directed the liquidation of his economic empire; however, this move is currently on hold while Trump appeals. The Trump Organisation, a massive corporation consisting of 500 limited liability companies, was among numerous of Trump’s New York entities whose business certificates were cancelled by Engoron.
Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, and the Seven Springs family home in Westchester County, New York are among the properties that Engoron has requested a receiver to manage the dissolution of.
Six other claims, including conspiracy, insurance fraud, fabricating company records, and making fraudulent financial statements, will be addressed in his next ruling.
Trump “acted with intent” to fraudulently inflate the worth of his assets in his financial filings, according to the attorney general’s office’s closing presentation.
According to Andrew Amer, an attorney general’s office lawyer, “the buck stopped with him” when it came to the actions taken by Trump Organisation executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney to inflate Trump’s holdings.
After reviewing and approving the comments, “Mr. Trump was certainly in the loop,” Amer stated. Because of his intimate familiarity with these assets, the court should conclude that he acted fraudulently.
How severe is Engoron going to be?
At several points throughout the trial, the judge, Trump, and the attorneys for the former president engaged in heated exchanges. Even outside of court, Trump’s social media statements and comments resulted in fines and a partial gag order.
Engoron has been vocal in his criticism of the former president, and he was quotable during the trial and in two written rulings against Trump.
“In defendants’ world: rent-regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party’s lies,” Engoron wrote in the summary judgement ruling against Trump.
“That is a fantastical realm, not our actual reality,” the court remarked.
After the ex-president sought to dismiss the case in December, the judge penned a harsh rejection.
Engoron stated in the three-page decision that the experts presented by Trump’s lawyers at trial were not trustworthy and that the defense’s main points were not persuasive in order to reject the application for a directed judgement in order to dismiss the case.
The judge remarked, “But a lie is still a lie,” implying that various criteria and methods of analysis can lead to different valuations.
The children, though?
The attorney general is seeking a lifetime prohibition on Trump’s business dealings in New York as well as a five-year prohibition on those dealings with Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who are co-CEOs of the Trump Organisation.
Engoron questioned the attorney general’s office pointedly during the closing remarks earlier this month over the potential liability of Trump’s adult sons for conspiracy and intent to mislead. (He had previously determined that they were fraudulent.)
“Please, show me the proof that they were aware of the fraud; I simply haven’t seen it.” Engoron inquired.
Although Ivanka Trump was initially identified as a defendant, an appeals court dismissed the charges against her last year due to the statute of limitations.
claims made by Trump
Outside of the courtroom, Trump spoke to television cameras multiple times daily, transforming the civil trial into a string of campaign appearances. His attempts to denigrate James, his conflicts with the judge and his clerk, and his unfounded accusations of collusion between the attorney general and the White House to prevent him from being elected are all hallmarks of his portrayal of the entire incident as a political prosecution.
At a pivotal moment earlier this month in court, Trump told Engoron, “This was a political witch hunt.” “What has transpired here is an act of fraud against me, sir.”
From a legal standpoint, Trump and his associates contend that there is insufficient evidence of fraudulent intent, and that lenders were required to undertake their own due diligence independent of the assessments provided by the Trump Organisation.
In addition, Trump claims that businesses such as Deutsche Bank were honest about wanting to do business with Trump Org.
Both the previous Engoron verdict and any decision he makes here will be appealed, as Trump has already promised. Additionally, the timeline for the implementation of any decision is uncertain.
Gag order
An extraordinary gag order and sanctions were imposed by Engoron against the ex-president due to Trump’s behaviour both within and outside of the courtroom.
The judge was “swatted” on the day of closing arguments this month, and “serious and credible” death threats were levelled against Engoron and one of his clerks.
The gag order was prompted by a false accusation that Trump made about Engoron’s law clerk in early October, which he shared on social media. Afterwards, the judge broadened the order to prohibit anybody, including Trump’s lawyers, from discussing the judge’s private conversations with his law clerk.
No portion of this case, including Engoron or the district attorney, is off-limits to public criticism according to the ruling.
In December, as the trial was coming to a close, Engoron thought back on the past.
In an odd manner, the judge expressed his intention to skip the trial. “It has been quite an adventure.”
