Iran Press/ America: Judge Arthur Engoron in Manhattan 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 that 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.
The ruling resolves the state’s biggest claim against the former president and narrows a trial set to start as soon as Oct. 2. The non-jury trial will now focus on the state’s remaining claims including falsifying business records and issuing false financial statements. The suit seeks $250 million in restitution and other penalties.
In sanctioning Trump’s lawyers, Engoron said they had repeatedly raised frivolous arguments that had already been rejected, including that James lacked standing to sue their clients. “Infants, legally declared incompetents, and persons under certain legal disabilities are not allowed to sue,” the judge said. “The New York attorney general is none of the above.”
Engoron went on to describe Trump’s defense team as inhabiting a “fantasy world” in which “rent-regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated, 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.”
The judge was referring to Trump’s habit of valuing properties without taking into account restrictions on their use and his assertion that disclaimers about his valuations signaled to banks and accountants that they should do their own. According to court filings, Trump valued his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, at more than $700 million based on the false premise that the property could be fully developed for residential use even though he himself agreed to restrictions limiting it to use as a social club.
Trump had called the disclaimers “worthless” clauses because they meant the statements should have very little impact on the banks’ decisions. But the judge said those clauses weren’t enforceable and couldn’t insulate Trump from liability for fraud.
“Defendant’s reliance on these ‘worthless’ disclaimers is worthless,” Engoron said.
Engoron also said in his ruling that Trump had flouted an earlier court order intended to reign in alleged violations of New York business law during the litigation.
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