On Monday, ex-President Donald Trump submitted a bond worth $175 million to safeguard his assets, including Trump Tower, from being seized by New York authorities. This action was taken as he appeals against the recent civil fraud case, which found him guilty of deceiving business partners to enhance his company’s financial gains.
“Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond on Monday to prevent New York authorities from seizing his assets, including properties such as Trump Tower, pending appeal of a civil fraud judgment against him of nearly a half-billion dollars,” the Washington Post reported.
“The former president’s posting of the bond was necessary to keep New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) from initiating legal steps to take over his properties,” it added.
Donald Trump has recently challenged a decision made by New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron. The ruling accused him, along with Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and two former executives, of artificially inflating the worth of his assets to boost earnings and savings. Originally, the bond to stop New York from confiscating his assets was established at $450 million. However, a panel from the appellate court decreased the bond to $175 million last week, with the stipulation that he must submit it within the next ten days.
“I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and I’ll post the $175 million in cash or bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly within the 10 days, and I thank the appellate division for acting quickly,” Trump said last week.
If Trump were to lose the appeal, he is going to be forced to pay than “$450 million from a civil court judgment after James won the fraud case against him, alleging he deceived lenders and insurance companies by inflating his net worth by up to $2.2 billion annually from 2011 to 2021.”
Trump announced that he would appeal Engoron’s ruling “all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.”