Judge orders Donald Trump to pay $354 million in civil fraud case

Former President Donald Trump has just faced his latest legal blow ahead of the 2024 Presidential election.

Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a whopping $354 million in his New York civil fraud case.

Judge Arthur Engoron laid down the ruling on Friday (February 16) and also barred Trump 'from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York for a period of three years.'

New York Attorney General Letitia James hoped to get $370 million from Trump and his companies as well as the top executives that included his children, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

She alleged that the trio as company had been involved in ‘persistent fraud’.

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The office had been suing for allegedly inflating the value of his assets on government financial statements.

She argued that these inflated financial statements allowed the defendants to obtain bank loans and insurance policies at a rate they would not otherwise have been entitled to.

In a court document, Judge Engeron criticized Trump, his two sons and executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney.

Slate journalist Mark Joseph Stern shared a snippet of the judge’s statement on his social media page on X.

The judge statement read: “Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.

“They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again.

“This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin. Defendants did not commit murder or arson. They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff.

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“Yet, Defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways. Instead they adopt a ‘see no evil, hear no evil, spark no evil’ posture that evidence belies.”

The judge continued to explain the court’s objective was not to judge the defendant’s morality but rather to find the facts and apply the law.

He continued: “The court intends to protect the integrity of the financial marketplace and, thus, the public as a whole.”

“Defendant’s refusal to admit error – indeed, to continue it, according to the Independent Monitor – constrains this Court to conclude that they will engage in it going forward unless judicially restrained.”

Donald Trump, who is often very vocal on the social network platform he founded, Truth Social, is yet to comment on this ruling at the time of writing.

His lawyer, Alina Habba, has said Trump will appeal the ruling, writing: "This verdict is manifest injustice, plain and simple.

"It is the culmination of a multi-year, politically-fuelled witch hunt that was designed to 'take down Donald Trump' before Letitia James ever stepped foot in the attorney general's office."

UNILAD has contacted Donald Trump for comment.