Donald Trump cannot come up with almost half a billion dollars he owes the New York attorney general for committing large-scale fraud, according to court papers filed Monday.
With one week to go before the former president’s deadline to put down at least $454 million while he appeals the mammoth judgment, Trump’s lawyers in court filings said they could not come up with the cash.
“The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million, and very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that,” Trump lawyers Alina Habba and Cliff Robert wrote, asking the First Department Court of Appeals to lower the amount Trump is required to deposit while fighting the judgment without losing any assets, including famed New York properties such as Trump Tower.
“The case involves no actual victims and no award of restitution, and (the AG) is fully protected by Defendants’ real-estate holdings.”
Trump has until March 25 to secure the judgment in a court-controlled account while he appeals before the AG can begin the collection process, whether by asking the sheriff to seize his properties or other assets or through other means. The GOP front-runner in the 2024 presidential race appealed the devastating ruling on Feb. 26.
The determination that Trump — who says he’s worth billions and has at least $400 million in cash — couldn’t secure the judgment came after “countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world,” according to an affidavit from Gary Giulietti, a representative for an insurance brokerage firm. In total, Trump’s lawyers tried 30 underwriters.
“Despite scouring the market, we have been unsuccessful in our effort to obtain a bond for the Judgment Amount for Defendants for the simple reason that obtaining an appeal bond for $464 million is a practical impossibility under the circumstances presented,” Giulietti wrote.
“Simply put, a bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen. In the unusual circumstance that a bond of this size is issued, it is provided to the largest public companies in the world, not to individuals or privately held businesses.”
In another affidavit submitted in the more than 1,000-page filing, Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten said they had been advised that none of the sureties lawyers approached were willing to accept Trump’s real estate holdings as collateral.
James’ office and Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
In February, Trump and his top executives at the Trump Organization were found liable for multiple fraud claims in AG Letitia James’ September 2022 case. Judge Arthur Engoron determined after a nearly three-month trial that for years, they intentionally lied about Trump’s net worth, often by a matter of billions, to secure better terms in business deals.
Engoron ordered Trump and his crew to collectively pay the AG around $464 million, including interest — with most of that sum owed by Trump.
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