(NewsReady.com) – Former President Donald Trump is in a pickle in New York and isn’t happy about it. A judge ordered him to pay $454.2 million in penalties and interest after being found civilly liable for fraud. The Republican presidential candidate is now saying it’s impossible to pay the entire amount.
On February 28, Trump lost a motion to an appellate court judge asking to pay a $100 million bond amount while he goes through the appeals process. Judge Anil Singh ruled against the former president. The ruling leaves him less than a month to pay the whole amount or to secure a bond through a private company before New York Attorney General Letitia James seeks to enforce the judgment on March 25.
Singh did give Trump some room to breathe. He issued a stay on part of Judge Arthur Engoron’s order that prohibited him and his co-defendants from trying to borrow money from New York banks. Trump’s attorneys had argued that part of the judgment made it “impossible” for the former president to secure a bond.
Securing a bond is likely going to be difficult because the former president would have to liquidate some assets. The bond company would likely require him to provide collateral and cash to secure it. If he can’t get a bond, he will either have to pay the entire judgment or risk James moving to seize his bank accounts or take his properties from him.
Trump was ordered to pay the massive judgment after the court ruled he’d fraudulently inflated his net worth and the value of his properties to qualify for loans. His attorneys have called the judgment an “exorbitant and punitive amount.”
It’s possible that Trump could receive some financial relief. His stake in the Trump Media & Technology Group, his social media company, might be worth billions of dollars this year when a merger is made final. But that is still several months away.
In the meantime, Trump can appeal to the full appellate court.
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