With judgment entered in Trump fraud case, clock starts on his $454M penalty

ByPeter Charalambous ABCNews logo
Saturday, February 24, 2024

The clerk for New York County's Supreme Court signed and entered the judgment order Friday in former President Donald Trump's civil fraud case, in which he owes $355 million in fines plus approximately $100 million in interest.

Shortly after, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a notice of entry in the case, which started the clock on Trump's financial penalties in the case, which come to $454,156,783 in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest.

Trump now has 30 days to appeal the case to New York's Appellate Division, First Department. In order to stay the execution of the fine in the case, the former president needs to post a bond or put cash into an escrow account to cover the fines plus interest, according to James.

The judgment also bars Trump from leading any New York company for three years, and his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are barred for two years.

Until he places the full amount of the fine into an escrow account, Trump will owe 9% interest on the full judgment, or over $3 million per month.

Last Friday, Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump and his sons liable for a decade of fraudulent business activity, ordering the defendants to pay a total of $464,576,230 in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest. Trump had denied all wrongdoing and vowed to appeal the case.

"President Trump will of course appeal and remains confident the Appellate Division will ultimately correct the innumerable and catastrophic errors made by a trial court untethered to the law or to reality," Trump's lawyer Chris Kise told ABC News in a statement last week.

If Trump is unable to pay the bond, New York Attorney General Letitia James told ABC News that her office is prepared to ask the court to seize Trump's assets.

"If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court and we will ask the judge to seize his assets," James told ABC News.

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