Verdict: Former President Trump fined $354 million in civil fraud case
FILE – Former President Donald Trump attends the closing arguments in the Trump Organization civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York, Jan. 11, 2024. (Shannon Stapleton/Pool Photo via AP, File)
By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press
A New York judge ruled Friday against former President Donald Trump, imposing a $354 million penalty over what the judge ruled was a years-long scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth.
ABC News reports that Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have been fined $4 million apiece, and the former Trump Organization’s CFO has been fined $1 million.
The decision bars Trump barred from serving as an officer of a New York company for three years, and bars his sons for two years apiece.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued his decision after a 2½-month trial that saw Trump bristling under oath that he was the victim of a rigged legal system.
Because it is civil case, not criminal in nature, there was never a possibility of prison time.
The penalty was a victory for New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, who sued Trump over what she said was not just harmless bragging but years of deceptive practices as he built the multinational collection of skyscrapers, golf courses and other properties that catapulted him to wealth, fame and the White House.
Trump’s lawyers had said even before the verdict that they would appeal.
(Copyright 2024. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)
