New York Attorney General Letitia James has called for the cancellation of the $175 million (164 million euros) security deposit provided by former President Donald Trump in a civil lawsuit alleging business fraud. In a document dated Friday, the claim is justified by the fact that the company that guarantees the security is too small and opaque.
Instead of choosing “a large national insurance company that is licensed in New York,” has experience in security services, and whose “liquidity is well over $175 million,” Trump preferred a “small insurer.” He is not authorized to do business in New York and has total liquidity of $138 million.
Trump had deposited the security deposit on April 1st and thereby avoided coercive measures by the New York prosecutor’s office, such as blocking accounts or seizing properties.
In the civil case for business fraud, Trump and his sons Eric and Donald Jr. were found guilty of artificially inflating the assets of their real estate empire over the years in order to obtain favorable conditions from banks and insurance companies. Trump was therefore sentenced in February to a fine of around $355 million plus interest, which totaled around $454 million.
Trump, who wants to run for the Republicans again in the presidential election in November, appealed against the verdict and therefore did not have to pay the fine for the time being – but did have to pay the security deposit.
Trump was originally fined $454 million. However, his lawyers had said that the billionaire was unable to do so. The background is that most of Trump’s assets are tied up in real estate and are not immediately available to him in cash. An appeals court in New York then significantly reduced the security deposit to be provided to $175 million.
