Former President Donald Trump was recently found guilty in his New York City fraud trial and was ordered to pay $355 million in penalties by state Judge Arthur Engoron.
355 million dollars.
Thats how much Trump has to pay the corrupt AG in NY.
Todays democrats are 100 times worse then Putin.
Trump helped build the NY we used to know and love.
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) February 16, 2024
The verdict comes after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the former president, alleging that he, his real estate company’s top executives, including his two eldest sons, were inflating property values and wealth to coerce banks and insurers to provide loans.
In his ruling, Engoron concluded that the former president and the Trump Organization were “likely to continue their fraudulent ways” if he didn’t impose penalties.
“This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin,” the judge wrote in his 92-page opinion. “They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”
James, who appointed Engoron to preside over Trump’s case, applauded the ruling, calling it “a tremendous victory for this state, this nation, and for everyone who believes that we all must play by the same rules — even former presidents.”
Interestingly, as Trump has often pointed out, James ran her 2018 campaign for attorney general, promising she would “get Trump.”
The former president condemned Engoron’s ruling, arguing that it was “election interference” and the left’s “weaponization against a political opponent.”
Trump’s two sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., were also fined in the matter. They must pay $4 million each for what Engoron called “personal profits from the fraud.”
The former chief financial officer (CFO) of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg, was also fined $1 million.
James initially filed a lawsuit against the former president in the fall of 2022. At the time, she asked Engoron to penalize Trump $250 million for “inflating his net worth in order to retain better loans.” Such a figure drastically increased in January 2023, with the attorney general saying she believed that throughout the trial, “he gained all of his money unlawfully.”
The trial in New York City is just one of several that the former president has been subjected to with the 2024 presidential election nearing.
