A judge on Tuesday ruled that Donald Trump and his company are liable for fraud by misstating the true values of multiple real estate properties for years and thus grossly overstating the former president’s net worth by billions of dollars.

Judge Arthur Engoron in his bombshell decision also canceled the New York business certificates of Trump, the Trump Organization, and the other defendants, including two of his sons, in a lawsuit by the state Attorney General’s Office.

The judge said he would appoint an independent receiver to manage the dissolution of the corporations whose business certificates he canceled.

It is not clear whether Engoron’s decision means the Trump Organization and related entities will have to completely cease doing business in New York, or whether the companies can be legally reconstituted later.

  • @jballs@sh.itjust.works
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    1079 months ago

    I love how the lawyers were fined for presenting shitty arguments that they were specifically instructed not to. Hope that sets a precedent.

    • FuglyDuck
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      389 months ago

      They’ll just pass that onto their client…

      he’s good for it, right?

      • @mateomaui@reddthat.com
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        329 months ago

        HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

          • Raging LibTarg
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            139 months ago

            HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  • DominusOfMegadeus
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    589 months ago

    ”Because of those misstatements, Trump had inflated his true net worth by billions of dollars.”

    Aren’t those called Lies?

  • @treefrog@lemm.ee
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    369 months ago

    Fraud is also criminal in the State of NY. This is for the civil case. A DA could choose to press charges as well.

  • @girlfreddy@sh.itjust.works
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    359 months ago

    The smoking gun …

    The judge added that if liability for fraud is established under New York law, that statute allows the attorney general to obtain an order enjoining defendants from continuing to do business or “any fraudulent or illegal acts.”

    Even after Engoron appointed an independent financial monitor for the Trump Organization last year, “defendants have continued to disseminate false and misleading information while conducting business,” the judge wrote.

    “This ongoing flouting of this Court’s prior order, combined with the persistent nature of the false [statements of financial condition] year after year, have demonstrated the necessity of canceling the [defendants’ business] certificates … as the statute provides,” the judge wrote.

  • @Wooster@startrek.website
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    189 months ago

    In layman’s terms, what is happening to the voided properties?

    The fact that Trump is appointing the independent feels… conflict of interesty.

  • nkat2112
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    119 months ago

    Letitia James rocks and I’m so excited with the verdict! This is such wonderful news!

  • @RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    109 months ago

    Meh. Just confirms we knew he was a fraud.

    Being a financial crime or whatever, the result will likely just be fines or restitution at worst (because rich people are involved) that will probably be neutered further in appeals.

    IOW, nothing he hasn’t probably seen before, and nothing with any serious teeth that will prevent him from carrying on being the POS he is.

  • @CeruleanRuin
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    99 months ago

    And so the cheap glue holding that cheater’s house of cards together starts to come undone. There’s a breeze in the air…

  • @Nobody@lemmy.world
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    69 months ago

    All because his lawyers early in the case checked a box for bench trial instead of jury trial, then blew through all the deadlines involved in fixing it. Absolutely massive fuckup, especially when your legal strategy is to annoy the judge with repetitive nonsense arguments.

    When your lawyers are getting fined personally for making stupid arguments too many times, your case is not going well. Trump’s only hope was an idiot juror to hold out on a guilty verdict and give him a mistrial. No jurors in a bench trial. Truly and irrevocably fucked.

    • @ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      39 months ago

      Maybe the lawyers know Trump will never pay them anyway, so they’re happy to paid with “the exposure” while happily fucking Trump over. They can tout themselves as “Trump’s lawyers” knowing Trump-lovers will remain ignorant of their fuckups since they remain ignorant of the fact that Trump lost in the first place.