Former President Donald Trump returns from a lunch break at Manhattan Criminal Court as jury selection continues in New York on April 18, 2024.
Jabin Botsford | Reuters
The New York attorney general’s office asked a judge on Friday to effectively void a $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump to secure a much larger monetary damages award in his civil business fraud case as he appeals the sentence.
The AG’s office in a statement said Trump and the other defendants in the case failed to demonstrate the existence of identifiable collateral sufficient to support bail for the Manhattan Supreme Court ruling.
The document notes that the surety Trump used to obtain the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, is “a small insurer not licensed to do business in New York and therefore not regulated by the state’s insurance department, which had never underwritten before a surety”. in New York or the previous two years in any other jurisdiction, and has a total policyholder surplus of only $138 million.”
The document opposes a joint motion by Trump and KSIC to justify the insurer as the suretyship company holding the bond.
Lawyers for AG Letitia James have asked Judge Arthur Engoron to require Trump and the other defendants to post a supersedeas bond within seven days of deciding the matter. James’ lawsuit against Trump led to the massive civil judgment against him.
A hearing on the bond dispute is set for Monday.
In February Engoron found Trump, the Trump Organization and other defendants liable for fraud, saying they falsely inflated the value of real estate assets for years with the goal of boosting Trump’s net worth. Those actions in turn helped the company gain better loan terms and other financial benefits.
Trump personally was ordered to pay $454 million in damages, a sum that grows every day with interest. He is appealing the sentence.
Under New York law, Trump was required to post bond to secure the sentence while he appeals the decision.
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