Crime & Justice

Judge declares Trump liable for fraud in civil case in New York

New York, Sep 26 (EFE).- A judge on Tuesday found former U.S. President Donald Trump liable for fraud in a civil case brought by New York prosecutors, who accused him of inflating his company’s assets for years to get better terms on loans and other economic benefits.

Judge Arthur Engoron agreed with the prosecution, which last week requested a partial summary judgment on the fraud charge against Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, the Trump Organization, and several partners.

Six other crimes are yet to be settled in the trial scheduled for October 2.

In the document issued on Tuesday afternoon, Engoron considers that the prosecution, led by prosecutor Letitia James, has “demonstrated (that there is) liability” on the part of the defendants, which also include Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney, two former executives of the Trump Organization.”

Additionally it ordered that all of their business licenses in New York should be “canceled.”

In the next ten days, the defendants must recommend up to three people to manage the dissolution of the companies related to the canceled licenses, according to the opinion reviewed by EFE.

Engoron noted that Trump made statements that tripled the actual size of his Trump Tower apartment.

A “discrepancy of such magnitude, by a real estate developer who exaggerates his own living space for decades, can only be considered fraud,” added the judge.

At a hearing, the prosecutors pointed out that in a single year, Trump went so far as to overstate his assets by $2.2 billion and angrily declared that “you can’t make false statements (of financial condition) and use them in business.”

A first judicial failure Restricting Trump’s ability to do business in the state was one of the goals of the complaint filed by prosecutor James in late 2022, in which the authority claims a fine of $250 million.

This issue will foreseeably be addressed on Monday’s trial.

Judge Engoron also rejected a parallel motion by Trump’s defense, which requested that all charges be dismissed, and ordered sanctions of $ 7,500 for five of the former president’s lawyers.

The decision represents a double judicial setback for Trump, who, despite being the clear favorite of the Republican Party for the next elections to the White House, faces a long list of cases in the coming months, which could complicate his campaign.

Aside from this case that goes to trial in less than a week, Trump faces four other criminal cases next year covering 91 offenses.

Most of those relate to the alleged handling of classified materials at his Florida home (40 indictments) and allegedly illegal payments to a porn actress during his presidential campaign in New York (34 charges).

He also faces 13 indictments related to the state racketeering law in Georgia for attempting to reverse election results and another four indictments in Washington, DC, related to the same issue for his false allegations of voter fraud and multiple stratagems. EFE

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