By Elise Kline
ALBANY, NY (Erie News Now)–In a recent civil fraud lawsuit ruling, former president Donald Trump is penalized to more than $350 million and banned from doing business in the state or applying for a bank loan over the next three years.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James stresses the 11 week trial brought to light how Trump engaged in business fraud–inflating his net worth to essentially cheat the system over a series of years.
“No matter how rich, powerful, or politically connected you are, everyone must play by the same rules. We have a responsibility to protect the integrity of the marketplace,” she said.
Trump continues to express outrage and denies any wrongdoing.
“A fine of 355 million dollars for doing a perfect job,” he said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said these penalties are not only justified but send a strong and important message about the act of business fraud.
“Whether you’re the President of the United States, a past president or forever past president of the United States or you’re an ordinary businessperson, no one is above the law here in the state of New York,” said Hochul.
Trump plans to appeal the ruling.
Some legal experts said there are a variety of possible outcome.
“As far as likelihood of success, I think that depends on how you define success. Do I think that the entire decision is going to be thrown out, no. Is it possible that the fine could be reduced, yes,” said Randy Zelin, an adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School.
Zelin also said with the backlog of cases in the court of appeals it could be a year or two before Trump gets a day in court on this.
Source: https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/50470155/new-york-state-leaders-react-to-trump-fraud-ruling
