Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled Tuesday that former President Donald Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization are liable for fraud, and ordered some of the former president’s companies to be dissolved, according to a copy of the ruling shared by The Associated Press.
This is breaking news that will be updated as more information becomes available. Keep reading below.
Engoron’s ruling rejected Trump’s motion for summary judgement, siding with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who claimed that Trump repeatedly made false statements in business documents in order to receive favorable agreements with banks and insurance agencies.
According to The New York Post, James argued that business statements, such as a statement claiming that a penthouse of roughly 11,000 square feet was actually 30,000 square feet, should make the Trump Organization liable for fraud.
“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,” Engoron wrote in his Tuesday ruling.
READ MORE: Judge rules Trump committed fraud against banks, insurers
Engoron granted James a partial summary judgement “on its first cause of action,” resulting in Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, Allen Weisselberg, Jeffrey McConney, the DJT Revocable Trust, the Trump Organization Inc, the Trump Organization LLC, DJT Holdings LLC, DJT Holdings Managing Member LLC, Trump Endeavor 12 LLC, 401 North Wabash Venture LLC, Trump Old Post Office LLC, 40 Wall Street LLC, and Seven Springs LLC being found liable for fraud.
As a result of Tuesday’s ruling, several of Trump’s companies have been ordered to dissolve. In his ruling, Engoron ordered that within 10 days, “the parties are directed to recommend the names of no more than three potential independent receivers to manage the dissolution of the canceled LLCs.”
The former president, his family, and multiple executives will now face claims of bank fraud and insurance fraud in a civil trial of about $250 million that is expected to begin in October and last through December.
“Today, a judge ruled in our favor and found that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in years of financial fraud,” James said in a statement reported by The Associated Press. “We look forward to presenting the rest of our case at trial.”
