Keys to the ruling condemning Trump to pay more than $350 million in fines

The ruling was imposed by a New York judge on Friday Former President Donald Trump fined $364 million for fraudulent business practices and barred from serving as an officer or director of any state corporation for three yearsThe outcome of a trial that lasted more than two months was described by the former president as “grossly unfair”.

Although Trump’s lawyers slammed the ruling as a “threat to the business environment” and a “politically motivated witch hunt,” the ruling could be more damaging to the former president and his companies. These are the most important key points:

The ruling was a victory for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump, saying what she said was not just a hoax but Years of deceptive practices while building the multinational collection of skyscrapers, golf courses, and other properties that catapulted Trump to wealth, fame, and the White House.

James launched an investigation into the business practices of Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, in March 2019 after his former personal attorney. Michael Cohen will testify before Congress that Trump exaggerated his wealth

In financial statements provided to Deutsche Bank while attempting to obtain financing to purchase the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

Once James completed her investigation in 2022, she filed suit against the former president under a state law that authorizes her to continue investigating fraud in the New York state business world.

The lawsuit accused Trump and his co-defendants of routinely inflating the Trump Organization’s financial statements to overvalue its properties and obtain more favorable terms for obtaining loans and insurance policies.

By being wealthier than he actually is, Trump qualified for better loan terms, saved on interest and was able to complete projects he otherwise wouldn’t have completed, state prosecutors said.

In his final decision, Judge Arthur Engron reversed an earlier ruling that, if upheld, would have dissolved the former president’s companies. The judge, however, upheld the appointment of retired federal judge Barbara Jones to oversee the company’s operations.

Engron concluded that Trump and his co-defendants “did not accept responsibility” for their actions and that experts who testified for the defense “denied reality.” But he called the civil fraud at the center of the trial “a venial, mortal, sinful thing.”

“They didn’t rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. “However, the defendants are unable to admit the wrongfulness of their actions,” Engron wrote, “and their total lack of remorse and remorse borders on the pathological.”

Angoro also imposed a fine that was less than the $370 million minimum that James had requested.

In amendment of complaint. James raised the requested fine to $250 million in a brief that he explained that Trump, his children and his top associates knowingly participated in and benefited from the fraud.

Engron decided the case directly because neither side sought a jury and state law does not require a jury panel for this type of lawsuit.

Because the lawsuit was civil, and not criminal, in nature, jail time was a possibility for any of the defendants in the case.

This allowed Angoron to issue a preliminary injunction to find Trump, his co-defendants and his company. Responsible for fraudulent business transactions And the trial was focused on determining the amount of the fine and other penalties that would be imposed.

The ruling is one of many legal and financial headaches Trump faces, adding to 91 criminal charges from four criminal trials, two state and two federal indictments in Georgia and New York, as he campaigns to return to the House. white.

On January 26, a jury indicted Trump in 2019 for defamation after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. Ordered to pay $83.3 million to Jean Carroll.That’s in addition to the $5 awarded to Carroll by a jury in a related trial last year.

In 2022, the Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud and fined $1.6 million in an unrelated criminal case for helping executives avoid taxes on extravagant perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars.

Trump incorporated the Trump Organization in New York in 1981. He still owns it, but he placed his assets in a revocable trust and resigned as company president and board members when he became president, leaving the management of the company to his children. . Eric and Donald Trump Jr

Trump did not return to a public leadership position at the organization after leaving the White House in 2021, but his children testified that he was involved in some of the decisions.

With information from the Associated Press.