Ex-US Prez Donald Trump Posts $175 Million Bond in New York Civil Fraud Case

Washington: Former United States president Donald Trump has posted a $175 million (Rs 146 crore) bond in his New York Civil Fraud Case and averted the seizure of assets by the state authorities which may have been placed in his business, AP reported. 

Trump was originally ordered to pay the full $464 million judgment against him, however, following an appeal courts said that he could pay the smaller sum within 10 days.

As per media reports, in February, Trump was found to have fraudulently inflated the property values.

The bond posted by Trump with the court now is a placeholder, which guarantees payment if the judgment is upheld. If this happens, then the presumptive Republican presidential nominee will have to pay the state the whole sum, which grows with a daily interest rate. However, if Trump wins, he won't have to pay the state anything and will get back the money he has put up now.

Until the appeals court intervened to lower the required bond, Letitia James, the New York Attorney General had been poised to initiate efforts to collect the judgment, possibly by seizing some of Trump's marquee properties. James, a Democrat, brought the lawsuit on the state's behalf.

The court ruling came after Trump's lawyers complained it was "a practical impossibility" to get an underwriter to sign off on a bond for the $454 million, plus interest, that he owes.

The former US president is fighting to overturn a judge's finding dating back to February 16, which stated that Trump lied about his wealth as he fostered the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and then the presidency.

The trial focused on how Trump's assets were valued on financial statements that went to bankers and insurers to get loans and deals.

However, Trump denies any wrongdoing and said that the statements lowballed his fortune, came with disclaimers and weren't taken at face value by the institutions that lent to or insured him.

The state courts' Appellate Division has said it would hear arguments in September this year. A specific date has not yet been set. If the schedule holds, it will fall in the final weeks of the presidential race.

(Inputs from AP)