Trump pays $175m bond in civil fraud case

The former US president faces four criminal prosecutions, including two cases alleging he conspired to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election

Donald Trump has paid $175 million bond in New York to avert asset seizure. AFP

Donald Trump paid a $175 million bond to put a civil fraud verdict on hold while he appeals against it, assuring New York state will not begin confiscating the former president’s assets for now.

The bond, posted on Monday with a Manhattan appeals court, prevents enforcement of a $454 million penalty levied by a judge against the real estate developer in February for lying about his assets for years to get better loan terms.

Mr Trump, who is campaigning to return to the White House in the November election, is still on the hook for the full amount – plus millions in interest – if his appeal fails.

He initially struggled to get a bond because he was required to put up 120 per cent of the full penalty, or more than half a billion dollars, in cash. But the appeals court on March 25 granted his request for a smaller bond, which Trump claimed was a sign the appeals court would eventually overturn the verdict.

“As promised, President Trump has posted bond,” his lawyer Alina Habba said in a statement. “He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict.”

The bond was arranged and signed by Los Angeles-based Knight Specialty Insurance, a small player in the industry whose chairman, Don Hankey, built a fortune by his diversifying his car dealership company into financial services.

Mr Trump had turned to Chubb’s Federal Insurance for an appeal bond to cover an $83.3 million verdict against him in writer E Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, which he lost in January.

He had said a full bond was “unattainable” because 30 insurance companies that arrange such bonds would not take his property as collateral and would only take cash. Mr Trump recently said he had nearly $500 million in cash and promised to cover the reduced bond with it.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Mr Trump and won at a non-jury trial, had argued a full bond was necessary because he cannot be trusted to pay the fine if he loses the appeal.

A smaller bond helps Mr Trump overcome one of the biggest financial obstacles of his career. Without it, he claimed he would be forced to hold a fire sale of assets to raise cash, hurting his ability to run his company and contribute to his campaign.

His losses from such sales would be irreversible, he claimed, even if he won the appeal.

Ms James, a Democrat, had said she would seize his assets to cover the judgment if he did not arrange the bond. Her office had already begun laying the ground work to do so in nearby Westchester County, where Mr Trump owns a golf course and a 212-acre estate called Seven Springs.

He also faces four criminal prosecutions, including two cases alleging he conspired to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election.

His first criminal trial, over charges he falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult video actress before the 2016 election, is scheduled to go to trial April 15 in Manhattan.

Mr Trump denies wrongdoing in all the cases and claims without evidence that they are part of a Democratic-led witch hunt to undermine his campaign.