Attorneys for former President Donald Trump want a New York State appeals court to throw out the $454 million verdict that was handed down after a judge found him liable for business fraud.
Trump’s lawyers will appear in a Manhattan court on Thursday for an appellate hearing seeking to overturn the civil fraud judgment of $354 million plus an additional $100 million in interest that had accrued when the verdict was handed down earlier this year.
In February, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump, his company and top executives including sons Eric and Don Jr. deceived banks by inflating Trump’s wealth on financial statements — allowing them to obtain loans on favorable terms which they used to reap profits.
The former president has insisted he did nothing wrong.
Trump’s lawyers plan to argue that the penalty was excessive and that the claims were filed too late.
In a brief submitted in July to the Appellate Division — the mid-level state appeals court — Trump’s lawyers argued that the financial statements he submitted to banks actually understated his wealth, and there was no indication that any of the lenders suffered losses.
The lawyers also accused Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, of targeting a political adversary.
“This politically motivated prosecution attempts to penalize purely proper and lawful conduct,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.
In a response in August, lawyers with James’ office said that the statute under which they sued Trump does not require proof that the banks lost money or relied on Trump’s misleading statements in deciding to lend to him.
The appellate court is expected to rule on the matter sometime after the Nov. 5 election. If the court rules against Trump, the former president can appeal to New York’s highest court and, potentially, the Supreme Court — though that would mean a final decision would come no sooner than 2026.
The hearing comes as Trump has seen his net worth fluctuate severely on account of the volatility of his tech company’s stock, Trump Media and Technology Group.
Shares of the company are down by 80% since March.
When the stock was first listed on the Nasdaq, Trump, who owns nearly 60% of the company’s outstanding shares, saw his net worth rise by some $6 billion.
But the stock’s poor performance since then has decreased the value of his stake in the firm, which is now worth around $1.7 billion.
Trump and several other top executives are now free to sell their shares after the six-month lock-up period which prevented them from doing so expired last week.
But the former president, whose net worth was valued by Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $4.1 billion, has vowed that he has no intention of unloading his shares.
The $454 million judgement, which has ballooned to $477 million due to interest accumulated since the verdict was handed down, is Trump’s biggest liability, according to disclosure forms that were filed last month with the US Office of Government Ethics.
The form showed that Trump owes $160 million on a mortgage that he received from Ladder Capital Finance LLC for his skyscraper at 40 Wall Street.
Trump also took out a pair of mortgages from Axos Bank totaling $225 million for Trump Tower and Trump National Doral golf course.
Trump’s other liabilities include an $83.3 million civil judgement against him following the defamation lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
Trump is also on the hook for a $5 million verdict that was handed down in Carroll’s sexual abuse lawsuit against the former president.
In total, Trump’s legal debts near $600 million.
In May, Trump became the first former president convicted of felony crimes after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor.
With Post Wires
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