Trump’s Lawyers Say He Might Have to Sell Properties to Cover Fraud Fine
![NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 03: Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in the courtroom with his lawyers for his civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on October 03, 2023 in New York City. Trump may be forced to sell off his properties after Justice Arthur Engoron canceled his business certificates and ruled that he committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire after being sued by Attorney General Letitia James, who is seeking $250 million in damages. The trial will determine how much he and his companies will be penalized for the fraud. (Photo by Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)](https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/themes/vip/pmc-rollingstone-2022/assets/public/lazyload-fallback.gif)
In response to the $454 million penalty levied against Donald Trump in his New York civil fraud case, the former president offered to pay a $100 million bond — less than a quarter of what he owes.
In a court filing Wednesday, attorneys for Trump called the $454 million an “unprecedented and unconstitutional sum” coupled with the “draconian injunctive relief” for the payment. His attorneys requested an emergency stay on the court’s payment until his team has finished appealing the ruling.
The request was denied, with Judge Anil Singh ruling that Trump must post a bond for the full amount of nearly half a billion dollars.
Trump’s attorneys said in the filing that he would likely have to sell properties to shore up the cash for the full bond amount unless the emergency stay is granted. “In the absence of a stay on the terms herein outlined, properties would likely need to be sold to raise capital,” the filing read.
New York Attorney General Letitia James had previously told ABC News that Trump properties could be seized if payments are not made in a timely fashion.
Had Trump offered a bond for the full $454 million, the court’s collection of judgment funds would automatically be paused until the appellate proceedings concluded. Instead, Trump’s legal team sought approval from an appellate judge in exchange for the $100 million bond offering.
James’ office filed a letter in opposition to the stay request to the New York Supreme Court. “Defendants all but concede … that Mr. Trump has insufficient liquid assets to satisfy the judgment; defendants would need ‘to raise capital’ to do so,” wrote Dennis Fan, senior assistant solicitor general for the New York Attorney General’s Office.
Trump is barred from taking loans to pay the $454 million as part of the ruling issued by Judge Arthur Engoron earlier this month. The ruling capped off an 11-week trial to determine how Trump would be penalized for artificially inflating property values of real estate managed by his businesses. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump for fraud in 2022, and he was found liable last September.
The $454 million civil penalty is separate from the $83.3 million sum ordered this month in the defamation case levied by writer E. Jean Carroll, on top of the four simultaneous criminal cases currently underway against the former president.