On March 25, 2024, former US President Trump attended a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City to set a date for his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments related to extramarital affairs.
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A New York appeals court on Monday suspended for 10 days a massive civil fraud conviction against former President Donald Trump and slashed the bond he must post to obtain a longer stay to $175 million.
The ruling comes on the same day that New York Attorney General Letitia James will be allowed to begin seizing Trump’s real estate and bank accounts to satisfy a growing $454 million business fraud verdict in the case.
The appeals court’s current ruling prevents James from doing so.
Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing last week that it was “impossible” for him to obtain a $454 million appeal bond after contacting more than 30 bonding companies without success.
None of the companies were willing to issue bonds without Trump providing cash or some other liquid assets, lawyers wrote in documents filed with a Manhattan Supreme Court appeals panel.
Because of the scale of the fraud verdict, the companies insisted that Trump produce “close to $1 billion in cash reserves,” according to Trump’s lawyers. But neither Trump nor the Trump Organization has that much cash on hand, the documents said.
The fraud conviction stems from a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Trump, his two adult sons, the Trump Organization and two top executives.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who presided over the lawsuit, ruled against the Trump defendants in February, saying they submitted “blatantly false financial data” to Improve Trump’s financial statements and get better loan terms.
Trump denounced the verdict, the judge and James, saying he was the victim of a politically motivated attack aimed at hurting his chances of defeating President Joe Biden in the November election.
A little more than a week ago, Trump secured a $91.6 million appeal bond from a subsidiary of Chubb Insurance Company to secure a defamation judgment in Manhattan federal civil court in his favor against author E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of rape. judgment.
The bond is secured by Trump’s brokerage account, and Carroll will be unable to collect more than $83 million from Trump’s judgment while the appeal is pending.
Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said Chubb had discussed issuing a second bond for Trump’s fraud case and was initially willing to consider a mix of liquid assets and real estate as collateral.
But Garten said in a court filing Monday that Chubb walked away from those talks last week. Chubb withdrew after it was publicly revealed that Trump received bail money from the company for Carroll’s case.
Chubb Chief Executive Evan Greenberg wrote a letter last week to investors, clients and brokers who expressed concerns about Carroll-related bonds.
“When Chubb issues an appeal bond, it does not render judgment on those claims, even if they involve alleged reprehensible conduct,” Greenberg wrote.
“As a guarantor, we don’t take sides,” he said.
“What we did was wrong and we in no way support the defendant. We support the justice system in this case and are part of it.”
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
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