A judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House, and he ordered some of the former president鈥檚 companies removed from his control and dissolved.
Judge Arthur Engoron, ruling in a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, found that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing loans.
Engoron ordered that some of Trump鈥檚 business licenses be rescinded as punishment, making it difficult or impossible for them to do business in New York, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee Trump Organization operations.
If not successfully appealed, the order would strip Trump of his authority to make strategic and financial decisions over some of his key properties in the state.
Trump, in a series of statements, railed against the decision, calling it 鈥渦n-American鈥� and part of an ongoing plot to damage his campaign to return to the White House.
鈥淢y Civil rights have been violated, and some Appellate Court, whether federal or state, must reverse this horrible, un-American decision,鈥� he wrote on his Truth Social site. He insisted his company had 鈥渄one a magnificent job for New York State鈥� and 鈥渄one business perfectly,鈥� calling it 鈥淎 very sad Day for the New York State System of Justice!鈥�
Trump鈥檚 lawyer, Christopher Kise, said they would appeal, calling the decision 鈥渃ompletely disconnected from the facts and governing law.鈥�
Engoron鈥檚 ruling, days before the start of a non-jury trial in James鈥� lawsuit, is the strongest repudiation yet of Trump鈥檚 carefully coiffed image as a wealthy and shrewd real estate mogul turned political powerhouse.
Beyond mere bragging about his riches, Trump, his company and key executives repeatedly lied about them on his annual financial statements, reaping rewards such as favorable loan terms and lower insurance costs, Engoron found.
Those tactics crossed a line and violated the law, the judge said, rejecting Trump鈥檚 contention that a disclaimer on the financial statements absolved him of any wrongdoing.
鈥淚n defendants鈥� world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party鈥檚 lies,鈥� Engoron wrote in his 35-page ruling. 鈥淭hat is a fantasy world, not the real world.鈥�
Manhattan prosecutors had looked into bringing criminal charges over the same conduct but declined to do so, leaving James to sue Trump and seek penalties that aim to disrupt his and his family鈥檚 ability to do business.
Engoron鈥檚 ruling, in a phase of the case known as summary judgment, resolves the key claim in James鈥� lawsuit, but several others remain. He鈥檒l decide on those claims and James鈥� request for $250 million in penalties at a trial starting Oct. 2. Trump鈥檚 lawyers have asked an appeals court for a delay.
鈥淭oday, a judge ruled in our favor and found that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in years of financial fraud,鈥� James said in a statement. 鈥淲e look forward to presenting the rest of our case at trial.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 lawyers, in their own summary judgment bid, had asked the judge to throw out the case, arguing that there wasn鈥檛 any evidence the public was harmed by Trump鈥檚 actions. They also argued that many of the allegations in the lawsuit were barred by the statute of limitations.
Engoron, noting that he had rejected those arguments earlier in the case, equated them to the plot of the film 鈥淕roundhog Day.鈥� He fined five defense lawyers $7,500 each as punishment for 鈥渆ngaging in repetitive, frivolous鈥� arguments, but denied James鈥� request to sanction Trump and other defendants.
James, a Democrat, sued Trump and the Trump Organization a year ago, accusing them of routinely inflating the value of assets like skyscrapers, golf courses and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, padding his bottom line by billions.
Engoron found that Trump consistently overvalued Mar-a-Lago, inflating its value on one financial statement by as much as 2,300%. The judge also rebuked Trump for lying about the size of his Manhattan apartment. Trump claimed his three-story Trump Tower penthouse was nearly three times its actual size, valuing it at $327 million.
鈥淎 discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,鈥� Engoron wrote.
On X in the wake of the ruling, Eric Trump insisted his father鈥檚 claims about Mar-a-Lago were correct, writing that the Palm Beach estate is 鈥渟peculated to be worth well over a billion dollars making it arguably the most valuable residential property in the country.鈥� He called the ruling and the lawsuit 鈥渁n attempt to destroy my father and kick him out of New York.鈥�
Under the ruling, limited liability companies that control some of Trump鈥檚 key properties, such as 40 Wall Street, will be dissolved and authority over how to run them handed over to a receiver. Trump would lose his authority over whom to hire or fire, whom to rent office space to, and other key decisions.
鈥淭he decision seeks to nationalize one of the most successful corporate empires in the United States and seize control of private property all while acknowledging there is zero evidence of any default, breach, late payment or any complaint of harm,鈥� Kise said after the decision.
James鈥� lawsuit is one of several legal headaches for Trump, the Republican front-runner in next year鈥檚 election. He in the last six months 鈥� accused in Georgia and Washington, D.C., of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss, in Florida of hoarding classified documents, and in Manhattan of falsifying business records related to hush money paid on his behalf.
The Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud last year in an unrelated criminal case for helping executives dodge taxes on perks such as apartments and cars. The company was fined $1.6 million. One executive, Trump鈥檚 longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and served five months in jail.
James鈥� office previously sued Trump for misusing his charitable foundation to further his political and business interests. Trump was ordered to give $2 million to charity as a fine while his own charity, the Trump Foundation, was shut down.
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