In February, former US President Trump was sentenced in New York to a $450 million fine for fraud. Now his lawyers announced: Trump cannot pay. The huge sum will be due next week.
Former US President Donald Trump cannot currently guarantee payment of a fine from a fraud trial worth more than $450 million, according to his lawyers. Despite great efforts and negotiations with around 30 companies, it has not yet been possible to obtain such a guarantee, according to a letter from his legal team to the responsible court in New York. Several US media outlets quote from this in agreement.
It was therefore argued that it was “practically impossible” to make the payment on time. The lawyers therefore asked the court to either suspend the sentence, which was due in a week, or to initially accept a guarantee of payment of 100 million dollars. The judge responsible initially did not react.
Judge saw fraud as proven
In February, Trump, who wants to be re-elected US President in November, was sentenced to a fine of more than $350 million in the fraud trial. With interest, the total amount is more than $450 million. The judge’s ruling also means that the real estate entrepreneur is not allowed to operate a company in New York state for three years. Trump has appealed.
In the civil lawsuit, Trump, his sons and employees were accused of manipulating the value of the Trump Organization for years in order to get cheaper loans and insurance contracts.