Former President Donald Trump just submitted a $175 million bond in order to halt the payment of a half-billion dollar judgment in the civil fraud case.
This action effectively prevents the state's government from taking his property while he pursues a lawsuit toward the court's decision.
Trump's $175 Million Bond
Trump secured the bond after an appeals panel said last week that he could do so for a sum far less than the $454 million he owes as a consequence of the decision.
This judgment was made in response to Trump's attorneys saying he didn't have the money to pay the entire fine and that many insurance firms had turned down his request for a bond covering the entire sum.
The $175 million bond that he and the other defendants placed on Monday was supplied by the Los Angeles-based Knight Insurance Group, according to a court document. The properties that Trump applied as security for the bond were not disclosed in the filing.
Amit Shah, the president of Knight, did not reply to an email requesting details on the collateral almost away.
"President Trump has posted bond, as promised. He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict," Habba stated.
Trump would be forced to pay more than $450 million to settle a judgment resulting from New York Attorney General Letitia James' fraud prosecution if he loses his appeal.
To obtain advantageous loan and insurance rates that he was not entitled to, a judge determined that Trump and high-ranking officials at the Trump Organization had knowingly participated in a conspiracy to falsely overstate his assets in financial documents.
The company that underwrote Trump's bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Co., is a member of a conglomerate headed by Los Angeles-based billionaire Don Hankey, who ranks No. 317 on the Forbes billionaires list and No. 128 on the Forbes 400 list for 2023.
Axos Bank, the banking company that refinanced Trump's obligations for Trump Tower and Trump National Doral Miami in 2022, has Hankey as an investor.
Axos provided Trump with a $100 million loan to refinance Trump Tower and an additional $125 million for Doral. According to Trump's August declaration to the Office of Government Ethics, neither loan is due until 2032, according to NBC News.
Trump's Appeal Bond
The filing of an appeal often has no effect on the execution of a judgment under New York law. However, if a person or institution secures a bond guaranteeing payment of the outstanding amount, there's an immediate halt. As in Trump's case, courts occasionally make exceptions to minimize the amount needed for a delay.
In order to get a bond worth more than $454 million, Trump's attorneys informed the appeals court that over thirty bonding organizations would not accept a combination of cash and real estate as security. Apparently to the lawyers, underwriters insisted on just cash, stocks, or other liquid assets.
They added that collateral equal to 120% of the outstanding amount is usually needed by bonding businesses.
Along with billions of dollars' worth of real estate and other assets, Trump recently said that he owned about half a billion dollars in cash. However, he said he wanted to have some cash on hand for his potential presidential campaign.
Eric Trump, the son of the former president, said on Truth Social that his family got excited about "vindicating our rights to appeal."
Trump's financial reserves have been significantly reduced by recent litigation bills.
Aside from the $175 million he was required to deposit in the New York lawsuit, Trump has also posted a bond and cash over $97 million to pay writer E. Jean Carroll's debt while he challenges decisions in two federal civil cases.
Juries concluded that he had molested her sexually in the 1990s and had slandered her when she came out with the claim in 2019. He disputes each and every allegation, Fox News reported.
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