Donald Trump Ordered to Pay $355 Million, Restricted from Doing Business in New York as Penalty for Fraud

Donald Trump has been ordered to pay $354.9 million in penalties following a lengthy civil fraud trial that tore into his finances.

Judge Arthur Engoron filed the 92-page ruling on Friday, which also barred the former president from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporations or legal entities for three years, and restricted him and the Trump Organization from applying for loans from New York-chartered financial institutions during the same time frame.

The ruling comes just three weeks after a New York jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll for defamatory statements he made about her in 2019.

In addition to penalizing Trump on Friday, Engoron demanded more than $4 million each from his adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric — who are barred from holding top leadership positions at New York businesses for two years — and $1 million from ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who cannot hold an officer or director position for three years and is permanently barred from having financial control over a New York business.

In September, Engoron ruled that Trump committed fraud while building his real estate empire, with the subsequent trial serving to determine his punishment.

The case against Trump was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office sued him with an allegation that the former president — with the help of his adult sons and senior executives at the Trump Organization — falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to secure more favorable loan terms and lower insurance premiums.

James' office claimed in a press release that "from 2011-2021, Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization knowingly and intentionally created more than 200 false and misleading valuations of assets on his annual Statements of Financial Condition to defraud financial institutions."

The attorney general sought to have Trump fined at least $370 million in penalties and restricted from doing business in the state.

Since leaving office in 2021, the former president has been mired in a number of legal issues and investigations on various fronts, including into his political conduct and business affairs.

Four of those investigations have led to indictments — the first one making him the only U.S. president to face criminal charges, and the next two further distinguishing him as the only president to face federal charges.

Still, Trump — who hopes to return to the White House in 2025 — is polling well among Republican voters and appears the front runner to earn the party's presidential nomination in July.