According to the expert, it is possible that the court will still agree to lower its demand.
With the former president of the United States With Donald Trump has a tough deadline next Monday: he should be able to give the New York-based law guarantees of 454 million dollars, or almost 418 million euros.
If the bail amount is not paid by Monday at the latest, the New York authorities can start seizing Trump’s assets. In this story, we go through what that could mean in practice – and what means Trump still has at his disposal.
Why does Trump have to pay New York State $454 million?
A New York court ruled last month that Trump, his son Donald Jr. and Eric and some other leaders of the Trump Organization have been increasing the value of their assets for a decade. Thanks to that, Trump’s company got, for example, better insurance and financing contracts. Judge of Arthur Engoron according to which it was a fraud.
In New York, fraudulent gains must be paid back to the state. According to the judge, thanks to the fraud, Trump and his company had made $350 million more than would have been possible through honest means. With interest, the final amount was 454 million.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He has repeatedly described the lawsuit as the New York state’s Democratic attorney general of Letitia James as political revenge.
Why do you need to get the money right now?
Trump was formally ordered to pay by a court on February 23, and officials previously said they would give him 30 days to arrange bail. That time is now running out.
Trump does not actually have to pay the compensation amount yet, because he has appealed the verdict. He still has to give guarantees to the court that compensation will be paid if he loses his appeal.
There are insurance companies that specialize in arranging such guarantees. However, Trump’s lawyers announced on Monday that 30 companies have refused to provide the necessary guarantees.
Why doesn’t Trump pay bail out of his own pocket?
Trump has said his wealth is worth billions, but most of it is tied up in real estate holdings, which are difficult to quickly turn into cash.
At the moment, it is not known exactly how much wealth Trump has that can be easily converted into money. According to estimates by the US news media, the amount could be around 300 million dollars, but Trump has already had to set aside just under 100 million of it for bail for another lawsuit.
The financial magazine Forbes has estimated that the value of Trump’s real estate would be around three billion dollars, so the compensations will not take him to bankruptcy.
Could New York Really Seize Trump’s Assets?
Yes. This is the opinion of the Syracuse University law professor interviewed by the news agency AP Gregory Germain that the lawyer interviewed by the news agency Reuters Adam Pollackwho previously served as New York State Deputy Attorney General.
According to Germain, the state could seize and sell Trump’s property. Possible targets could be, for example, a penthouse in the skyscraper Trump Tower, an office building on Wall Street, and the Doral golf course.
This would hardly happen very quickly, as the legal processes required by the seizure take time.
In what ways can Trump still try to avoid confiscation of his assets?
Trump’s lawyers have appealed the bail amount. Lawyer Adam Pollack told Reuters he thinks it’s possible the appeals court will lower the required bail to, say, $200 million.
According to Pollack, Trump could also try to negotiate a settlement with the party that filed the lawsuit, i.e. the state attorney general. On the other hand, he can try to get collateral from a capital investment company that tolerates greater risks than insurance companies.
AP, AFP, Reuters
A public service media company has also been used as a source NPR’s articles.