Sneaky Collateral

Donald Trump was fined $355 million last Friday in his civil fraud case. Judge Arthur Engoron gave Trump 30 days to pay the fine. He also ordered Trump to pay pre-judgment interest dating back to March 2019 when New York Attorney General Letitia James first began investigating the Trump Organization.

One of Trump’s favorite court tactics is to delay the trial. Now, he’s trying to delay paying the fine. Trump needs more than 30 days to get the money to pay the fine, but each day he stalls costs him $87,502 in interest. With interest added, Trump owes more than $450 million. Trump can appeal the decision, but under New York state law, Trump will only receive a stay of enforcement if he puts up money, assets, or a bond covering the full amount he owes.

Trump is a billionaire and his assets are valued at much more than the $450 million fine, but according to his own testimony, his cash on hand may not be enough. He owes $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll in his defamation case, $400,000 in legal fees to The New York Times in a bogus case over the paper publishing his tax returns, and thousands of dollars in fines for attacking courtroom staffers. Trump has $400 to $600 million in cash which means after paying all these judgments, fines, and legal fees, he may not even have enough left for the dollar menu.

Trump will have to put up assets or get a bond to appeal the ruling. So, who’s going to give Trump a bond worth $450 million to appeal a fraud case that’s about him overvaluing his assets?

According to a penalty calculator created by Associated Press journalist Mike Sislak, as of Thursday, Trump owes New York a total of $454,156,783. You might want to bookmark that link.

One reason Trump’s lawyers are asking the court to extend the deadline for payment is that he may be having trouble securing a bond. Neil Pedersen, the owner of New York-based surety bond agency Pedersen & Sons, said it’s “not very attractive to take real estate as collateral,” and probably less attractive if it’s from a grifter who inflated the value of his properties by millions.

Appeal bonds are used to ensure that a person ordered to pay a judgment cannot misuse the courts to delay or avoid making that payment. The money has to be guaranteed before you can file an appeal. New York business attorney David Slarskey, said, “Whoever is going to bond Trump is committing that they’re going to make good on that judgment. Who’s going to do that?” Great question. Whoever is going to guarantee that Trump can pay that money has to guarantee that Trump will pay the bond agency.

The bond company will probably charge millions for the bond, and the rate Trump receives probably won’t be as friendly as the ones he got from the banks when he lied about his value. And Trump can’t liquidate the company selling his ugly shoes as he doesn’t own that. Plus, since this case wasn’t political, not related to his campaigns or his presidency (sic), Trump can’t use campaign donations to pay the fine.

I hope the court rejects Trump’s request for a delay because he had more than 30 days throughout this trial to prepare for a fine he knew was coming. Everyone in New York City, from the courts to banks to bond agencies, knows Donald Trump is a lying grifter.

I can’t wait to see what Trump liquidates first.

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