New York state’s attorney general is seeking to fine former President Donald Trump $370 million in damages in a fraud case that accused the real estate mogul of inflating the value of his properties, according to court documents filed Friday.
Trump, the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination for president in 2024, is accused along with his two eldest sons of inflating the value of real estate assets through fraudulent behavior to obtain bank loans and more favorable insurance terms.
The $370 million fine represents a significant increase from the $250 million that the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, had sought in her complaint filed in the fall of 2022, according to The Associated Press.
The civil fraud trial is one of several legal battles Trump faces as he seeks to reclaim the presidency. He has testified in court in the case along with his sons Donald Jr. and Eric since October.
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump, who is leading a campaign for the November elections, quickly launched a new attack on James, the African American Democratic attorney general, accusing her of “corruption” and leading a campaign of “persecution” against him.
Trump reiterated on Friday that “I did not commit any wrongdoing. My financial statements are very good and accurate,” adding that “this case should never have been filed,” according to The AP.
Since the trial began on October 2, Trump has attacked the judiciary during his court appearances, denouncing a “persecution” against him and a “trial fit for banana republics.”
Unlike the criminal trials awaiting him in 2024, including one related to his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, Trump does not face the possibility of imprisonment in this civil case.
But the course of the case is moving in his disfavor. Even before the proceedings began, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in late September that the prosecution had presented “compelling evidence that the defendants overstated the value of” their group’s assets by “$812 million (to) $2.2 billion,” depending on the years, in the figures listed in Trump’s annual financial statements.
As a result of “repeated fraudulent acts,” the judge ordered the liquidation of the companies that manage these assets, such as Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City or a skyscraper that dates back nearly 100 years on Wall Street. But an appeal has suspended these proceedings.
The trial also involves several other offenses, such as insurance fraud. But Trump’s defense team says the case is devoid of evidence.
Ultimately, it is up to Judge Engoron to determine the amount of damages and compensation.
