A New York District Judge ruled on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump committed fraud by overvaluing his assets to his investors in the state of New York.
This ruling comes from the ongoing real estate trial brought forth by New York Attorney General Letitia James, in which she argued that Trump and his business defrauded banks by falsifying the value of his assets, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Judge Arthur Engoron agreed with the claims that Trump and his company deceived banks in an attempt to secure better loan and insurance conditions.
Engoron added in the ruling that “the defenses that Donald Trump attempts to articulate in his sworn deposition are wholly without basis or fact.”
“He claims that if the values of the property have gone up in the years since the SFCs were submitted, then the numbers were not inflated at the time.”
According to Engoron, Trump had claimed that “rent-regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party’s lies.”
“That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”
With the ruling, Engoron rescinded Trump’s business licenses in the state and noted that an independent monitor will now carefully oversee Trump’s companies.
Engoron’s ruling is only a partial summary judgment. While it answers the key question in the case, a future trial will determine penalties that Trump will be ordered to pay, per ABC News.
The next trial date is currently set for October 2, but this could change based on upcoming rulings.
In response to Engoron’s decision, Trump posted to Truth Social saying the trial “is a “Railroading” job, pushed hard by the Radical Left DOJ for purposing Election Interference.”
“If I weren’t running for President, and winning, none of these politically motivated lawsuits would be taking place! Does anyone notice that, after years & years, they are all happening right in the middle of my campaign??? WE WILL TAKE BACK THE WHITE HOUSE AND MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote in a subsequent post.
AG James responded to Engoron’s ruling with a brief statement posted to her account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Today, a judge ruled in our favor and found that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in years of financial fraud. We look forward to presenting the rest of our case at trial,” she wrote.
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said in a statement that the ruling was “fundamentally flawed” and that the Trump family is “an American success story.”
“We intend to immediately appeal this decision because President Trump and his family, like every American business owner, is entitled to their day in court,” Habba said, per The Guardian.