The future of Donald Trump’s family business could be decided on Friday when a judge in New York is expected to give a decision in his civil fraud trial.
The old president, his grown-up sons, and his company were found guilty of lying about the value of their assets to get more money from banks.
The lawyers want the judge to make Mr. Trump pay a large amount of money and limit his business activities in the state.
That is a huge amount of money, even for someone who is extremely rich. Legal experts told the BBC that a really big fine, along with a possible final decision that could greatly affect his real estate business, could really hurt Mr.
“He won’t just start being a working class person,” said Diana Florence, a former federal prosecutor. It will just be a big amount of money. His money will be much less.
The New York Attorney General Letitia James said that the Trumps should pay $370 million as a penalty for making money through fraud.
She figured out the total using three things: money Trump may have made from interest on loans by giving incorrect information about his assets; extra pay for Trump Organization workers involved in the plan; and money from two property deals that James claims were obtained dishonestly.
Judge Arthur Engoron will decide how much money will need to be paid when he gives his decision.
No matter how much it is, Mr. Trump would also have to pay interest every year on the fine. The interest would go back several years to when the alleged crimes happened. The 9% interest rate in New York means that Mr. Trump may have to pay a lot more money in addition to the penalty.
Mr Trump says he didn’t do anything wrong and that the banks actually made money from his investments, so there was no crime. He will ask for another trial, which would stop the decision until a higher court looks at the case.
If he doesn’t want to pay the fine or risk losing his belongings while waiting for the appeal, he still needs to give all the money to the court within 30 days.