Trump in trouble. Court decided on the matter of his property
A New York judge found Donald Trump and his company, Trump Organization, to be liable, i.e. qualifying for legal responsibility in a civil lawsuit, for fraud allegations made by the state Attorney General Letitia James. She accuses the former U.S. president of illegally inflating the value of his assets. Trump has announced an appeal against this decision.
Sep 27, 2023 | updated: 9:18 AM EDT, October 5, 2023
Judge Arthur Engoron of the state court in Manhattan ordered the annulment of the business certificates of Trump's family business and other defendants. He also imposed sanctions on his lawyers for contributing to the "disgraceful behavior of their clients" and presenting "absurd" legal arguments during the hearing.
Trump is back in court again
Prosecutor James sued Donald Trump in September 2022, accusing him, his adult children, and his company of repeatedly lying for ten years about the size of their assets and net worth in order to obtain better terms for bank loans and insurance.
In her opinion, Trump inflated his net worth by as much as 2.23 billion dollars, and according to another calculation method, up to 3.6 billion dollars. The alleged frauds were related to, among others, Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, an apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan, and various office buildings and golf courses.
The judge characterized Trump's statements as "completely devoid of legal and factual grounds".
Problems of the former president
Trump and the other defendants announced their appeal against Judge Engoron's ruling and requested a postponement of the trial set to begin on Monday. Both he and the other defendants stated that this prevents them from preparing for the hearing, as they do not know what charges they will have to defend against. The appellate court is expected to make a decision on this matter later this week.
Despite numerous lawsuits, Trump maintains a decisive lead in the race for the Republican nomination for president in the 2024 elections.
Furthermore, Trump did not previously admit to the allegations of trying to nullify the results of the 2020 elections, withholding secret documents, and secretly paying off a former porn star.
The former president is also facing a civil lawsuit for defamation from author E. Jean Carroll, who alleges that Trump raped her.
