Former United States President Donald Trump has finally posted a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case, thus staving off asset seizures by the state.
A New York Appeals Court had slashed Trump’s bond payment, ordering him to pay $175 million within the next 10 days.
According to reports, the former President had previously faced a deadline to pay a $464 million bond payment that came as a result of civil fraud allegations from New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The bond payment will temporarily spare Trump the potential humiliation of seeing his real estate assets, including Trump Tower in Manhattan and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, seized.
“As promised, President Trump has posted bond. He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict,” Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, stated.
The civil fraud case against Trump was filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, in 2022. Justice Arthur Engoron, also a Democrat, broadly sided with James’ argument, ordering Trump to pay a steep price for fraudulently misrepresenting his assets to obtain more favourable loans and interest rates over several years.
Meanwhile, Trump’s first criminal trial over alleged attempts to fraudulently conceal hush-money payments to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 election is scheduled to begin on April 15 in Manhattan.
Additionally, the former President faces charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and mishandling classified documents post-presidency, to which he has pleaded not guilty.