The Justice Department of New York has sentenced former U.S. President Donald Trump to pay a fine of $355 million for financial fraud. The state attorney general, who was responsible for the investigation, said that Trump is finally being held accountable. Letitia James had requested the court to fine the former president $370 million. The judge, Arthur Ergoron, sentenced almost the total amount and also fined two of Trump’s sons – executive directors of the family group – $4 million each. The judge also banned the three from leading any company in New York. The former president, for three years; his sons, for two.
The former president was convicted of illegally inflating his net worth by up to $2.2 billion. It was explained in court that, in practice, by declaring assets with higher values, he was able to gain advantages such as loans with lower interest rates or cheaper property insurance. Trump said he will appeal, but while awaiting the outcome of the appeal, he will have 30 days to deposit the total amount of the fine. In a statement, the former president said the decision is a “complete and total farce.”
At the end of January, in another civil lawsuit, Trump was ordered to pay more than $83 million for defaming writer Elizabeth Jean Carroll. He still faces 91 charges in four criminal cases. Trump is accused of:
Keeping secret U.S. government documents at his home in Florida; attempting to defraud the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia; conspiring against the United States by inciting the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021; and defrauding payments intended to buy the silence of a porn actress during the 2016 campaign.
The latter trial already has a date set: March 25. It will be the first time that a former U.S. president will sit in the dock.
