«I have a lot of cash,” Donald Trump said confidently 10 months ago on the court bench in New York, claiming that the amount “grows significantly every month.” Today it looks like the former US president, who has equated his persona with financial success and wealth, will need all that cash – or more.
Last week Trump was found guilty of fraud by a New York court. The outcome did not bode well from the beginning, since the judge, Arthur Engoron, before imposing the sentence, had told the accused that the lack of remorse he was showing seemed “pathological”. And indeed, the judge issued a final judgment with unprecedented, exorbitant financial penalties, even for a tycoon.
Specifically, it ruled that the former president orchestrated a fraud, “cooking” the accounting books to deceive lenders about the value of his assets, which for years he presented inflated to secure better loan terms. And for that he is now required to pay the State of New York more than $450 million, an amount that threatens to wipe out the stash of cash, stocks and bonds he has amassed since leaving the White House, according to the New York Times. ». In fact, this amount will be compounded at 9% per year if Trump does not repay it in full.
Billionaire in search of cash
So essentially Trump has two options: pay now or pay, possibly much more, later. Since he intends to appeal the original decision, the only ways to stop the interest charges are until March 17th to either deposit the full amount into a New York State account or find a company that will be able to guarantee with a bond that the billionaire can pay the penalties if his appeals fail – for a hefty fee, of course.
As for the first possibility, it is not clear whether Trump has the liquidity to transfer the entire amount, although Bloomberg last year estimated his liquid assets at $600 million. Given, of course, that he is required to pay another 83 million dollars after the trial of the case for defamation E. Gene Carroll (after she denounced him for rape), the risk of a liquidity problem is more than real.
It is noted that he cannot use the money of sponsors from his election campaign, which are already being used for the legal costs of his legal adventures.
So far Trump refuses to reveal what his plan is for repaying this exorbitant sum. When asked during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, he chose, rather than answer, to compare his sentence to the case of Alexei Navalny who died in a Russian prison last week: “He’s a form of ‘Navalni,'” he commented.
And of course he went on to equate his legal suffering with that of Navalny, the main opponent of the Russian president Vladimir Putinwho was politically persecuted, poisoned and imprisoned by the regime. “It also happens in our country” he said characteristically, maintaining his usual stance on the “Democrat witch hunt,” as he describes it.
The New York Times points out that beyond any financial blow, Trump’s reputation as a successful businessman, which he relied on to make the leap into politics, has been seriously undermined – as has his ego. But as harsh as Judge Engoron’s decision was, it is just the introduction to Trump’s long legal journey. The New York trial is a painful prelude to the four criminal trials the former president and re-electionist face in November. Besides, in exactly one month, on March 25, the first of these is scheduled to begin, in which Trump will face the threat of imprisonment for the first time.
It is about the case of financing the star of erotic films Stormy Daniels, with the Manhattan District Attorney charging the former president with 34 charges. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison. And since the case was brought by state (rather than federal) prosecutors, Trump will not be able to pardon himself if he is eventually elected to the White House.
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