New York Attorney General Letitia James has said she is prepared to seize Donald Trump's building if he can't cover the $354 million fine he was recently hit with in his civil fraud case. James, who brought the lawsuit, sought $370 million in penalties and a ban on Trump and other defendants from doing business in the state. Trump's ultimate penalty is likely to swell to more than $400 million with interest.
"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 told 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," James said, referring to Trump's building in Manhattan's financial district.
James in the ABC News interview challenged Trump's claim that her case did not have any financial victims, arguing instead that it was representative of an equitable relationship between financial markets and New Yorkers. She also shut down the ex-president's allegation that the fraud case would create a dearth of business activity in the state.
"Financial frauds are not victimless crimes. He engaged in this massive amount of fraud. It wasn't just a simple mistake, a slight oversight, the variations are wildly exaggerated, and the extent of the fraud was staggering," James said. "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. Last I checked tourism is up. Wall Street is doing just fine."
James' legal team estimated that the former president inflated the value of various assets to obtain lower insurance premiums and favorable loan terms. According to the Associated Press, New York attorneys alleged that Trump also exaggerated his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion one year. Judge Arthur Engoron ultimately concurred with these claims, ruling against Trump last Friday.
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