(NewsNation) — A New York State Supreme Court judge on Friday ordered former President Donald Trump to pay $354.9 million and barred him from conducting business in New York for three years, finding that the presumptive Republican candidate for president was liable in committing fraud in inflating the value of his personal wealth and business holdings.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued the judgment in a 92-page ruling after two and a half months of testimony from 40 witnesses, including the former president. The ruling came from the bench since juries are not permitted in this type of civil case.
New York Attorney General Letitia James was seeking $370 million as well as a ban on Trump and other defendants doing business in the state.
In additition to ordering Trump to pay the nearly $355 million, Engoron ordered Trump’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., to each pay $4.01 million, the ruling said. Both of the sons were barred from serving as business officers in the state for two years.
James has maintained since the start of the civil trial that Trump has exaggerated his personal wealth by as much as $3.6 million.
The state claims that Trump and others, including his sons, Donald Trump, Jr., and Eric Trump, inflated his wealth to receive more favorable interest terms on business loans and also to receive lower insurance premiums.
Prosecutors claimed in the lawsuit that Trump has saved at least $168 million in interest alone.
In his ruling, Engoron decided that in order to borrow more and at lower rates, Trump and his business associates submitted “blatantly false” financial data to their accountants. That resulted in fraudulent financial statements, the ruling states.
When confronted at trial with the statements, the defendant’s expert witnesses “simply denied reality” and the defendants refused to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences, the ruling said.
James’ lawsuit claims that Trump has overvalued many of his personal holdings, including his Trump Tower penthouse, Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, as well as golf courses, hotels, and a Wall Street office building.
Engoron has already ruled that Trump was fraudulent in his financial statements. The judge ordered that some of the former president’s business holdings be removed from his control or dissolved.
That matter is currently under appeal, which has kept the judge’s order from moving forward.
Trump issued a defiant statement last month, calling the civil trial “fraud” against him. He has also accused President Joe Biden of bearing responsibility for the number of legal obstacles he is facing. Trump has maintained that prosecutors do not have any facts or evidence to find him liable.
Because of the civil nature of the case, Trump is not facing jail time.
Friday’s ruling against Trump comes after a week in which a different New York judge ruled that Trump will stand trial on March 25. In that case, prosecutors allege that Trump falsified company records to silence paying people hush money who could have potentially damaging and embarrassing information about Trump’s alleged affair.
Trump claims he is innocent and has deemed the case a witch hunt that will disrupt his campaign for a second stint in the White House.
