Donald Trump’s lawyers have acknowledged that their client does not have the money available to post $454 million bail after a conviction for financial fraud.
The former US president would not be able to pay a guarantee of 454 million dollars whilehe is appealing a judgment in which he was convicted for financial fraud.
In a 5,000-page court document posted online Monday by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan District Court), the lawyers said that Donald Trump was unable to provide a payment guarantee while he appealed, suggesting that Donald Trump’s legal losses in his final months have placed him in a serious cash crunch.
The lawyers wrote that obtaining an appeal bond for the full amount of the judgment “is not possible under the present circumstances.”
The presidential candidate for next November nevertheless affirmed last year that he had “more than $400 million in cash”but the various legal defeats in recent months in the American courts have inflated its legal debt beyond half a billion dollars.
Quoting the refusal of more than 30 bond subscribers, Trump’s lawyers have asked the state’s intermediate appeals court to overturn an earlier ruling requiring him to post a bond covering the full amount in order to halt enforcement while he appeals of judgment.
Donald Trump must post bail to the state afterhe was convicted, along with his co-defendants, of plotting for years to defraud banks and insurers by inflating his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals.
If the appeal request filed by the ex-president’s lawyers is not validated, Judge James (Democrat), of first instance, will then be able to request the execution of the judgment from March 25. The judge has already said he would seek to seize some of Trump’s assets if he is unable to pay. With interest, the bill already amounts to $456.8 million. This amount increases by almost $112,000 every day.
But if the businessman cannot pay he risks seeing some of his real estate seized by the courts.
In total, Donald Trump and his co-defendants, including his company, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and other executives, must $467.3 million.
To obtain bail, they would have to post collateral covering 120% of the judgment, or about $557.5 million, Trump’s lawyers said.
Republican candidate says he’s worth billions of dollars, but much of its wealth is tied to its skyscrapers, golf courses and other properties.
Few underwriters were willing to issue such a large bond and none would accept Trump’s real estate assets as collateral, instead requiring cash or cash equivalents, such as stocks or bonds, his lawyers said.
The real estate tycoon blasted his “totally bogus” judgment and publicly denigrated the magistrates handling the case.