Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends the Trump Organization civil fraud trial, in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, October 25, 2023.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
A New York judge ordered Donald Trump’s company Thursday to tell a court-appointed financial watchdog about any future efforts to obtain bonds to secure a $454 million civil fraud judgment against the former president.
Judge Arthur Engoron’s order came as Trump tries to avoid paying that judgment as he appeals the business fraud verdict in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Trump’s lawyers on Monday told an appeals court panel that it was “impossible” for him to bond that would prevent New York Attorney General Letitia James from collecting the judgment during his appeal. The attorneys said more than 30 surety companies rejected Trump’s request for an appeal bond.
James can begin seizing Trump’s properties next Monday to collect the judgment unless the appeals court grants him a waiver, or unless he manages to secure a bond or puts up real estate as collateral for the court.
In his order Thursday, Engoron told the Trump Organization it must tell its financial overseer, Barbara Jones, “in advance, of any efforts to secure surety bonds.”
The company must tell Jones about any claims the Trump Organization makes to obtain the bonds, any personal guarantees by Trump or other defendants, and any condition imposed on the company.
That level of disclosure would well exceed what Trump has disclosed about a $91.6 million appeal bond he recently received from a Chubb insurance subsidiary to secure a civil defamation judgment in favor of the writer E. Jean Carroll.
Jones, who is a retired federal judge, was appointed by Engoron as the financial monitor for the Trump Organization. The company has chafed under her oversight, complaining about her in filings with Engoron.
Engoron last month ruled that Jones would remain as the monitor for three years after finding that Trump, his two adult sons, his company and two executives were civilly liable for years of fraudulently inflating Trump’s asset values for financial gain.
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