Trump Already Owes $24 Million More In Fraud Case As It’s Heard On Appeal

Topline

A New York appeals court will hear the civil fraud case against Donald Trump and his business associates Thursday, as the former president appeals the nine-figure judgment he’s been ordered to pay for fraudulently misstating the value of assets—an amount that has risen by $24 million while he waited for the court to take up the case.

Key Facts

Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and companies he controls to pay $454.2 million plus interest in the civil fraud case, in which he and his associates were found liable for fraudulently inflating the value of assets on financial statements for personal gain.

That $454.2 million total—which includes pre-judgment interest—goes up by $111,984 per day, $3.4 million per month and $40.9 million per year, based on a 9% annual interest rate.

That means Trump owes $458.2 million as of Wednesday, as calculated using a penalty calculator created by Associated Press journalist Mike Sislak—meaning his total has already increased by $24 million in the seven months since the judgment was posted on Feb. 23.

The interest will continue to accrue until Trump pays the full judgment, even as he appeals the ruling and the appeals court deliberates on the case.

Trump has already posted a $175 million bond in the case—as a court agreed to lower the amount after Trump’s lawyers argued he couldn’t pay the full bond—but he will still be on the hook for the entire amount he owes, including interest, once the appeals process concludes, if Engoron’s ruling isn’t overturned.

What To Watch For

A panel of appeals court judges will hear the civil fraud case on Thursday at 12 p.m. Eastern time, with a ruling likely to come out a few months later. If the court rules against him, Trump could then appeal the case to New York’s highest court and ask it to reconsider Engoron’s ruling. Interest will continue to accrue for that entire period.

Forbes Valuation

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $3.6 billion as of Wednesday morning, ranking him the 966th richest person in the world. Most of the ex-president’s wealth comes from his stake in Truth Social parent company Trump Media and Technology Group, however, followed by his real estate holdings. Only approximately $413 million is made up of cash and liquid assets, which would be used to pay the judgment against him, should he lose on appeal.

Big Number

More than $540 million. That’s how much Trump owes in total legal judgments against him since the start of 2023. While the fraud case makes up the bulk of that, a jury also ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against him, and he has posted an appeals bond for $91.6 million in that case (enough to cover the judgment plus interest). He was also ordered to pay $5 million in a separate lawsuit Carroll brought against him, as well as smaller amounts in cases including Trump’s failed lawsuits against Christopher Steele who authored the controversial dossier ahead of the 2016 election; The New York Times and Hillary Clinton.

What We Don’t Know

How Trump will pay the judgment if he loses on appeal. While Trump doesn’t have enough cash himself, he could try to obtain a loan, seek help from wealthy friends or borrow against his real estate properties to make up the amount. The ex-president’s attorneys previously suggested Trump could be forced to sell some of his real estate, which Forbes values at approximately $1.1 billion in total. That was before Trump’s social media company went public, however, which now makes up the bulk of Trump’s wealth. Trump has said he does not intend to sell his stock in the company after a block on him doing so lifted, though that could change in the future should he have to pay the full fraud judgment.

Key Background

James sued Trump, his business associates—including his sons—and the Trump Organization in 2022 for allegedly fraudulently misstating the value of their assets on financial statements, which she alleged was done in order to obtain more favorable business deals and reflect a higher net worth for Trump. Judge Arthur Engoron agreed, finding Trump and his co-defendants liable for fraud even before the trial in the case began—it moved forward on other allegations—and then ruling again in February there was “overwhelming evidence” suggesting Trump and his sons signed off on financial statements knowing they were false. Trump’s lawyers argued in court the valuations were correct, subjective figures based on Trump’s real estate expertise, and tried to distance the former president from the alleged fraud, downplaying the statements at issue and arguing any mistakes with the numbers should be blamed on the company’s accountants. Engoron did not buy those arguments, however, writing in his final ruling that Trump “was aware of many of the key facts underpinning various material fraudulent misstatements” in the financial statements and “severely compromised his credibility” when testifying in the case.

Further Reading