Attorney General of New York Letitia James declared that in the event that Donald Trump lacks the funds to satisfy the $355 million judgment rendered against him in the recently concluded civil fraud case, she is ready to take possession of his properties, including 40 Wall Street.
James made the remarks on Tuesday during an interview with ABC News.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James stated to ABC News.
In addition to over $100 million in pre-judgment interest, Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump $354.8 million on Friday for misleading banks and lenders with financial statements that exaggerated his wealth. Trump plans to appeal the decision.
Trump has “a strong argument that when the attorney general seeks to punish for past use, rather than prevent future use, she would have to show all of the traditional elements of fraud,” which Engoron found she did not, according to professor Greg Germain of Syracuse University of Law, who spoke with Newsweek.
Still, James told ABC News that she’s “very confident” and has already her sights set on acquiring her first piece of real estate.
James rebutted Trump’s allegations of a victimless crime during his testimony in November by telling ABC News, “We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day.”
“A victim did not exist. Nothing existed “Trump stated during his November testimony.
“Credit scams are not crimes without victims. He committed this significant fraud. The amount of the fraud was astounding, the variations are greatly overstated, and it wasn’t just a straightforward error or carelessness, James told ABC News. “If average New Yorkers went into a bank and submitted false documents, the government would throw the book at them, and the same should be true for former presidents.”
Engoron’s decision followed a jury’s decision last month directing Trump to reimburse writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her following her 2019 allegation that he had sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store during the 1990s. Carroll also received an additional $5 million from a jury in a separate trial that concluded last year.
In the first 24 hours, a GoFundMe account to cover Trump’s $355 million judgment raised $84,000, and as of Tuesday night, it has more than $741,000 in contributions.