The New York real estate empire that brought Donald Trump wealth and fame is in jeopardy due to a sweeping verdict in a fraud case against the former US president, who could eventually be forced to dispose of prized properties including Trump Tower in Manhattan.
In a detailed decision on Tuesday, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered that Trump, his eldest son and his businesses perpetuate fraud by significantly overestimating the true value of various buildings. Canceling business certificates for Trump-related entities in the state and golf clubs from New York and Florida to Aberdeen, Scotland.
“This is the worst possible thing for a civil decision,” said Evan Gotlob, a former state and federal prosecutor who practices in New York. He added that the unusual order means the defendants “will be unable to conduct any business in New York for the foreseeable future” and may be “forced to sell those operations.”
Hours after Ngolon’s order, the former president’s lawyers raised the possibility of selling Trump Tower as they sought clarification in court on Wednesday about the scope of the verdict. Trump’s attorney, Christopher Kise, said a “technical reading” of the ruling suggested entities would have to “surrender” to the court or be placed in receivership.
Earlier, he accused Ngolon in a statement of trying to “seize control of private property” with an “outrageous decision” and vowed to appeal.
However, the immediate significance of the decision remains unclear after Ngolon declined to elaborate on how it would be implemented. The New York attorney general’s office, which filed the case, did not respond to a request for comment on the legal ramifications for Trump’s businesses or issue any statement other than welcoming the judge’s order.
Former New York state judge Thomas Franczyk said his interpretation of the decision was that as of Wednesday, “none of these entities can continue to conduct such operations,” referring to businesses Trump owns in New York .
But he added that “as a practical matter” it was unclear how Trump entities could easily comply with the ruling. “Why did you stop (doing business) in one day?” he asked. In residential towers like Trump Park Avenue, “Who should tenants pay rent to?”
Adam Leitman Bailey, a New York real estate lawyer, predicted Trump’s legal team would be granted a stay on the ruling. “The order the judge wrote simply doesn’t work,” he said.
A court trial is scheduled to begin on Monday to decide outstanding matters in the case, such as whether the defendants falsified business records or committed insurance fraud, and there is no indication that Ngorong’s order will be enforced until a final verdict is issued.
Trump, who traveled to Michigan on Wednesday to try to win over striking auto workers, called the ruling a “political hoax” on social media. He seemed particularly aggrieved by Engoron’s claim that his Mar-a-Lago resort was worth far less than the $612 million falsely claimed in annual business records.
His son Eric, also a defendant in the case, said he had “lost all faith in New York’s legal system” and that his family “ran a great company — never defaulted on a loan, made the Banks received hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue”. U.S. dollar, developing some of the world’s most iconic assets”.
Ngolon’s ruling dealt a blow to a central pillar of Trump’s popular mythology — that he built a vast portfolio of high-value properties over decades using nothing more than his business acumen.
While the specifics of the ruling confounded legal experts, his findings were delivered in simple yet devastating language, undermining the notion of the former president’s genius and instead casting him as fundamentally dishonest.
“In defendants’ world,” Ngolon wrote, “rent-controlled apartments are worth the same as non-rent-controlled apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land. . . . Square footage is subjective.” “That’s a fantasy world, not a real world,” he concluded.
New York defense attorney Michael Bachner said: “The judge’s ruling is in many ways a death sentence for Trump’s businesses in New York.”
For example, the ruling would make it difficult for the 77-year-old Trump, who is once again the Republican front-runner for president in next year’s election, to obtain bank loans and could also trigger cancellation clauses in existing loans, Bachner said. pointed out.
Gottlob said that while the verdict alone would end up costing Donald Trump “a lot of money,” Ngolon’s ruling could also harm the former president in the four criminal indictments he faces. defend.
Gottlob said that if Trump takes a stand in any of the cases where he is accused of trying to subvert the 2020 election, illegally withholding classified documents, etc., “then this finding will prove his credibility.” Prosecutors could cite this in cross-examination: “That’s another thing (that can be used) to help prove he’s a liar.”
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