NEW YORK — A New York judge on Friday ordered former President Donald Trump to pay $355 million damages and temporarily limited his ability to do business in New York for the next three years.
Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the former president and the Trump Organization to pay $454 million in total penalties. The figure includes $355 million in disgorgement, a term for returning ill-gotten gains, along with $98 million in prejudgment interest that will accrue every day until it is paid, according to a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office.
Trump also faces a three-year ban on applying for loans from financial institutions registered with the state.
“Donald Trump is finally facing accountability for his lying, cheating, and staggering fraud. Because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law,” Letitia James said in a statement.
Speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Friday night, Trump bashed the ruling as “a fine of 350 million for a doing a perfect job.”
The case is one of four separate pending criminal trials, the first of which is scheduled to begin on March 25 in New York.
“Everyday Americans cannot lie to a bank to get a mortgage to buy a home, and if they did, our government would throw the book at them,” James said.
Eric and Donald Jr. also face two-year bans from serving as officers or directors of any New York corporation or legal entity.
Trump is the clear front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, setting up a likely rematch with President Joe Biden.
“Countless hours of testimony proved that there was no wrongdoing, no crime, and no victim,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement.
“When confronted at trial with the statements, defendants’ fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality,” the judge wrote.
