The judge who handed down a $464 million judgment against Donald Trump, his company and co-defendants in a civil fraud case has ordered the Trump Organization to keep the court closely informed about any efforts to secure a bond ahead of Monday’s deadline.
Judge Arthur Engoron said Thursday that Trump’s company needs to provide details to a court-appointed monitor on attempts to obtain a bond that would stop authorities from collecting on the judgment while it appeals last month’s ruling. The monitor, former federal Judge Barbara Jones, is to report regularly to Engoron.
“The Trump Organization shall inform the Monitor, in advance, of any efforts to secure surety bonds,” Engoron said in his order, as well as “any personal guarantees made by any of the Defendants,” which would include the former president.
The order — part of a larger ruling detailing and expanding the monitor’s duties — comes days before the deadline for Trump and his co-defendants to secure a bond that would stop New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office from being able to collect on the judgment while they appeal Engoron’s ruling.
In a court filing this week, lawyers for Trump said they had been trying to get a bond for weeks but have been unsuccessful.
“Defendants’ ongoing diligent efforts have proven that a bond in the judgment’s full amount is ‘a practical impossibility,’” Trump’s attorneys said in their filing, pleading with an appeals court to pause Engoron’s judgment without posting a bond while they appeal the award.
It’s unclear why the judge waited until now to make the request for the additional information, but the language in Engoron’s order suggests he wants to make sure the company, which he found had engaged in “persistent” fraud by overinflating assets, doesn’t make any misrepresentations to bond companies.
Thursday’s order requires the Trump Organization to tell the court monitor what “financial disclosures are requested or required” by the bond company, “any information provided in response to such requests, any representations made by Trump Organization in connection with such bonds” and “any obligations of the Trump Organization required by the surety.”
Representatives for Trump did not immediately comment on Engoron’s order.
An automatic 30-day pause on Engoron’s judgment from last month is set to expire on Monday, at which point the state attorney general’s office would be free to start seizing Trump’s assets unless he posts a bond or an appeals court intervenes.
Courts in New York typically require a person or company to guarantee the entire amount of a judgment if they appeal, plus extra cash to account for the 9% annual interest on the award until it’s paid. Cash or a bond can be used to secure the full amount.
In their court filing this week, Trump and his co-defendants said he didn’t have the necessary amount of cash on hand, and that the bulk of his assets are in real estate, which the bonding companies have refused to accept as collateral for a bond.
Other aspects of Engoron’s order appeared designed to make sure Trump and his co-defendants, including top Trump Organization executives Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, do not try to hide or move assets.
The judge said the company must tell the monitor “at least five business days in advance of cash or other assets outside of the Trust” that totals $5 million or more, “including transfers to any individual defendant.” The company also has to tell the monitor in advance if it dissolves or creates any other corporate entities, and provide copies monthly of all of its bank accounts.
“Defendants shall not evade the terms of the Monitorship Order by transferring assets, reincorporating existing business entities in other forms or jurisdictions, modifying entity ownership, or any other form of restructuring or change in corporate form,” the ruling said.
Engoron first appointed Jones as a monitor for the company in November of 2022. In Thursday’s order, he extended her role for three years, and said her duties will include reviewing the company’s internal accounting controls and governance, and financial disclosures. Engoron also directed her to report any activity “that has the effect of circumventing or frustrating” his order.
