NY AG James moves to seize Trump assets in Westchester as $464M plus interest fraud bond deadline looms
New York Attorney General Letitia James may have her sights set on Donald Trump’s Westchester golf course and Seven Springs estate as he struggles to pony up a bond on his $464 million judgment last month for civil fraud.
Shortly after Judge Arthur Engoron handed down his Feb. 16 verdict against Trump in the case, James’ team formally registered the judgments in Westchester County, indicating that his properties there may be in jeopardy, documents reveal.
James’ team made the filing on March 6 without providing a name of specific Trump assets or a reason for doing so. Trump’s properties there include Trump National Golf Club Westchester as well as the 212-acre Seven Springs estate.
She has given Trump a deadline of March 25 to post bond on the judgment.
Because the verdict was handed down in New York City, James doesn’t need to enter judgments in the Big Apple, home to Trump Tower, the Trump Building on 40 Wall Street and other assets.
On Monday, Trump’s attorneys contended in a court filing that it wasn’t feasible “under the circumstances presented” to cough up that kind of money, noting that a bond would cost 120% of the fine — potentially $557 million due to interest and appeals costs.
His lawyers argued that such a price tag is “unattainable” and claimed that some 30 insurance companies wouldn’t accept his real estate as collateral. They’ve also claimed that he lacks the cash flow to produce that kind of money.
James’s team has rejected those arguments in court filings and it also suggested he could procure a series of smaller loans.
“Perhaps worst of all, the Attorney General argues that Defendants should be forced to dispose of iconic, multi-billion-dollar real-estate holdings in a ‘fire sale,'” Trump attorney Clifford Robert seethed in a letter to New York’s Appellate Division Thursday.
“By demanding an undertaking in the full amount of the judgment in order to appeal, the Attorney General and Supreme Court have sought to impose a patently unreasonable, unjust, and unconstitutional (under both the Federal and New York State Constitutions) bond condition,” his legal team also said.
Last month, Trump, 77, quickly appealed the decision, and his legal team asked a court to pare down the price tag closer to $100 million but was denied by an appeals judge.
James has publicly declared that she is prepared to begin seizing Trump’s assets if he fails to comply with the March 25 deadline.
Earlier this month, Trump paid up a $91.6 million appeal bond to challenge the verdict in one of the E. Jean Carroll defamation suits.
Just because James registered the judgment in Westchester County doesn’t mean that she will ultimately maneuver to confiscate Trump’s properties there, but it does give her that option.
Entering a judgment is generally considered a first step, but potential follow-up actions to ultimately commandeer his properties involve levying a lien on his assets, taking court actions, or trying to foreclose the properties.
James does not appear to have entered judgments in Florida or Illinois, where a number of other Trump properties are located.
Trump has seethed at the verdict against him following a roughly 11-week trial that concluded Trump as well as his children Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump manipulated his net worth for business and tax benefit.
Prosecutors alleged that the Trumps inflated asset valuations by as much as $3.6 billion a year to secure more favorable loans from banks.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and underscored that he paid back many of those loans in question.
“If I sold assets, and then won the Appeal, the assets would be forever gone. Also, putting up money before an Appeal is VERY EXPENSIVE. When I win the Appeal, all of that money is gone, and I would have done nothing wrong,” Trump fumed on Truth Social Thursday.
“The Crooked Judge, who has already been overturned 4 times on this case (a record!), fully understands this. He gave us a demand which he knows is impossible to do.”
On Thursday, Engoron also gave the monitor observing the Trump Organization more expansive oversight authorities over the 45th president’s real estate empire.
The Post contacted the Trump Organization and the New York attorney general’s office for comment.
