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New York business fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization
| New York v. Trump, et al. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | Supreme Court of the State of New York |
| Full case name | Case name
|
| Started | October 2, 2023 |
| Verdict |
|
| Citation | 452564/2022 |
| Court membership | |
| Judge sitting | Arthur F. Engoron |
New York v. Trump is a civil investigation and lawsuit by the office of the New York Attorney General (AG) alleging that individuals and business entities within the Trump Organization engaged in financial fraud by presenting vastly disparate property values to potential lenders and tax officials, in violation of New York Executive Law § 63(12). The defendants were Donald Trump, five other individuals including three of his children, and ten business entities including some that owned property in New York, Florida, and Chicago. The trial took place from October 2023 to January 2024. As a result of the trial, presiding judge Arthur Engoron ordered the defendants to disgorge a total of US$364 million of ill-gotten gains, among other penalties.
AG Letitia James began investigating the organization in early 2019, with public litigation beginning in August 2020 to support her subpoenas in the inquiry. In February 2022, Engoron ruled in favor of James's subpoenas, and in April 2022, Donald Trump was found in contempt of court for not complying with them and Trump was fined $110,000.
In September 2022, the AG sued Trump, his three oldest children (Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric), former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, former controller Jeffrey McConney, and ten related companies. In November 2022, Engoron appointed retired judge Barbara S. Jones to monitor the organization regarding potential future fraud. In 2023, Ivanka was released as a defendant due to an expired statute of limitations.
In September 2023, Engoron issued a summary judgment that Trump and his company had committed fraud for years. The judge ordered the termination of the defendants' state business licenses and the dissolution of pertinent limited liability companies (pending appeal). The trial covered six additional claims by the AG and considered further penalties. In October, a gag order was placed on Trump, forbidding him from publicly disparaging court staff; the judge fined Trump $5,000 and $10,000 for two violations of the order that same month. The defense unsuccessfully sought to dismiss the case, as well as related subpoenas and rulings.
In February 2024, Engoron concluded that the "defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences" of having "submitted blatantly false financial data" to "borrow more and at lower rates". Engoron assessed Trump and his companies $354 million of disgorgement of ill-gotten gains (not including interest), while Eric and Donald Jr. were assessed $4 million each, and Weisselberg $1 million. These four and McConney were also banned from leading New York organizations from two to three years; Weisselberg and McConney were also permanently banned from having any financial control in such organizations. The judgment was appealed.
In March 2024, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, lowered the defendants' required bond from $464 million to $175 million, while staying the bans ordered by Engoron. In early April, Trump posted the bond. An appeal hearing was held on September 26, for which a decision is pending.
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