Former President Donald Trump told a New York state court that obtaining the approximately $464 million needed to meet bond on the appeal of his civil fraud conviction is “a practical impossibility” in a new filing on Monday.
A New York state judge convicted Trump of civil fraud on February 16 for falsifying the business records of his Trump Organization for years. The court ordered Trump to pay $355 million to cover the amount he gained due to his fraud, plus interest. In total, Trump was ordered to pay out more than $464 million.
Trump appealed the decision on February 26. Unless Trump wants New York Attorney General Letitia James to seize his assets, he must post bond by providing the court with the full amount owed in judgment.
After “countless hours negotiating with one of the largest insurance companies in the world … obtaining an appeal bond in the full amount … is not possible under the circumstances presented”, Trump’s brief states.
After contacting 30 bond companies, few of them would even “consider a bond of anything approaching” $464 million and those that do “will not ‘accept hard assets such as real estate as collateral,’ but ‘will only accept cash or cash equivalents (such as marketable securities),’” according to the brief.
Trump’s brief also complains that the bond companies that could provide him with the $464 million require collateral totaling 120% of the bond, or $557 million.
What this means is that Trump, who has claimed to be worth $10 billion in the past, does not have enough available cash to put up as collateral to obtain an insured bond of $464 million — or $557 million if he must put up 120% collateral. He could, theoretically, put his properties up as collateral, but bond companies won’t accept physical assets, according to an affidavit submitted by insurance broker Gary Giulietti that is cited by Trump’s lawyers.
The final option would be a “fire sale” of his properties, including office towers, golf courses and resorts, but the brief argues this “would inevitably result in massive, irrecoverable losses”.
Instead, Trump wants the bond requirement for his appeal to be waived or reduced and asked the court to grant oral arguments on the waiver.
If, however, the appellate court does not intervene, Trump will be required to pay the full judgment on March 25. And if he fails to make that payment, then James will be able to seize assets equaling the amount owed.