- Judge Arthur Engoron approves steps to strengthen $175 million appeal bond in Trump’s civil fraud case.
- Trump argued he posted $175 million in cash as collateral to the bonding company, Knight Specialty Insurance, so government lawyers should have no problem.
- But state Attorney General Letitia James’ lawyers had been concerned Trump still had access to the cash. The agreement gives Knight exclusive access to the account.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron approved a new agreement Monday between Donald Trump’s lawyers and state Attorney General Letitia James to reinforce the $175 million bond he posted to appeal a $454 million judgment in a civil fraud trial for inflating the value of his real estate empire in statements to lenders.
James asked Friday for Engoron to void the bond by arguing Knight Specialty Insurance Co. isn’t authorized to write bonds in New York. The collateral for Knight bond is a cash account with Charles Schwab financial services and state lawyers raised concerns that Trump had access to the account.
But at a hearing Monday, Trump lawyer Christopher Kise assured Engoron that Trump couldn’t move money out of the account without Knight’s approval, and Schwab would not allow it.
“We have to put the money somewhere,” Kise said.
Engoron, however, questioned the security of the collateral.
“You keep using the word agreement, what if they break the agreement?” Engoron asked. “It all seems like a house of cards.”
Lawyers for Trump and James huddled to reach an agreement under which Schwab will maintain the account in cash and Knight will get exclusive control of the account. Engoron approved the deal.
Trump complains about James questioning his bond
Trump told reporters Monday he was forced to deal with the California company because the judgment barred him from dealing with financial institutions in New York. Trump said he put up $175 million in cash so James should have no concerns about whether the bond is legitimate.
“She doesn’t like the bonding company because she doesn’t know if the collateral is good,” Trump said in the hallway outside his criminal trial. “The bonding company would be good for it because I put up the money. I had plenty of money to put up.”
Trump had said it would be impossible for him to post a bond for the entire $454 million while he appeals the case, to ensure the judgment is paid if he loses the appeal.
Trump appeal continues to challenge Engoron’s $454 million judgment
Engoron ordered Trump in February to repay ill-gotten gains from getting more favorable interest rates on loans by exaggerating the value of his properties for years. For example, Trump tripled the square footage of his Trump Tower penthouse, valued the building at 40 Wall St. in Manhattan by hundreds of millions more than its appraised value and estimated the value of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at hundreds of millions more than its tax assessment.
Trump has complained bitterly about Engoron’s ruling, particularly about the value of Mar-a-Lago.
Without a bond, James could move to seize Trump accounts and property to claim the judgment.
The civil case about real-estate values is different from Trump’s New York criminal case, which had opening arguments Monday about charges he falsified business records to pay hush money to silence a porn actress before the 2016 election.
