New York State attorney-general Letitia James said on Tuesday she is prepared to seize Donald Trump's assets, including his skyscrapers, if he is unable to find the cash to pay off a $355m (R6.7bn) fine from his fraud trial.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James told ABC News.
A New York judge last week ordered Trump, the former Republican president and front-runner for his party's White House nomination, to pay the fine after ruling he committed repeated and persistent fraud, overstating his net worth by as much as $3.6bn a year to obtain better loan terms.
Trump denied all wrongdoing and is appealing the fine. He has accused James, an elected Democrat, of bias.
Trump's appeal of the judgment may focus on his contention that there were no victims from the conduct in the case.
But James told ABC she is confident of the strength of her case, saying “financial frauds are not victimless crimes”.
“He engaged in this massive amount of fraud. It wasn't a simple mistake, a slight oversight. The variations are wildly exaggerated, and the extent of the fraud was staggering.”
Reuters
New York attorney-general says she will seize Trump’s assets if he can’t pay fine
Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/ File photo.
New York State attorney-general Letitia James said on Tuesday she is prepared to seize Donald Trump's assets, including his skyscrapers, if he is unable to find the cash to pay off a $355m (R6.7bn) fine from his fraud trial.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James told ABC News.
A New York judge last week ordered Trump, the former Republican president and front-runner for his party's White House nomination, to pay the fine after ruling he committed repeated and persistent fraud, overstating his net worth by as much as $3.6bn a year to obtain better loan terms.
Trump denied all wrongdoing and is appealing the fine. He has accused James, an elected Democrat, of bias.
Trump's appeal of the judgment may focus on his contention that there were no victims from the conduct in the case.
But James told ABC she is confident of the strength of her case, saying “financial frauds are not victimless crimes”.
“He engaged in this massive amount of fraud. It wasn't a simple mistake, a slight oversight. The variations are wildly exaggerated, and the extent of the fraud was staggering.”
Reuters
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