Donald Trump and his company should be ordered to pay $370 million, the New York state has argued, up from $250 million previously, over allegations of inflating the value of his assets in financial records for over a decade. The escalation of the demanded amount was included in a post-trial brief on Friday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who initially sued Trump and The Trump Organization for the alleged fraud in 2022. A final verdict in this civil fraud trial is pending from the presiding judge.
James’ case rests on the argument that the defendants, including Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., should return all illegal profit gained by the former president due to the alleged exaggeration of his assets to secure favorable terms on loans. The initial estimate of $250 million in damages was subject to modification following evidence presented at the trial, which started in early October.
Despite the civil suit, the defendants continue their operations without any significant corporate oversight, James stated in the filing. The trail against Trump – one of six he currently faces – comes as he campaigns for a return to the White House in the upcoming November election, amid charges ranging from civil defamation to four other criminal prosecutions.
Trump denies any wrongdoing in the litany of cases leveled against him, dismissing them as part of a “witch hunt”. In response to New York’s demand for increased damages, Trump’s lawyer, Christopher Kise, condemned it as “unconscionable, unsupported by the evidence, untethered from reality, and unconstitutionally excessive.”
The civil fraud trial revealed detailed accusations of deceptive schemes put in place by Trump’s Organization to artificially inflate the former president’s net wealth by as much as $3.6 billion a year. This allowed him to secure the best rates on hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.
The trial has remained on hiatus since the last testimony was heard on December 13 by Justice Arthur Engoron, who is expected to now issue a verdict without the involvement of a jury. The judge has ruled against Trump in previous instances in the ongoing case, even preemptively holding him liable for fraud ahead of the trial, thereby resolving the largest claim in James’s suit. The focus of the trial now returns towards assessing the six remaining claims and associated penalties.
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