The fine is 454 million dollars, close to 4.9 billion kroner at today’s exchange rate. He got it for having inflated values in his company to secure better conditions with banks and insurance companies – and for having reduced them to avoid taxes.
According to Trump’s lawyers, no company has so far wanted to provide a guarantee that the fine will be paid. Trump has appealed the sentence, and the lawyers are now trying to prevent the state of New York from seizing Trump’s assets while the appeal process is ongoing.
A review by the news agency Reuters shows that there are large gaps in the estimates of how much Trump is good for.
On Friday, Trump claimed on Truth Social that he has “almost $500 million in cash.” In April 2023, he said in a court hearing that he had $400 million on his books.
Real estate mogul
If this is true, it is a significant increase from previous figures. In documentation that Trump sent to the court in June 2021, it was stated that he was good for $293.8 million in liquid funds.
Trump also owns a number of hotels, office and residential buildings, golf courses and land. New York Attorney General Letitia James has notified the seizure of his properties if the fine is not paid on time.
A 2021 financial statement showed his properties were worth $4.3 billion, while he had $439.2 million in loans. According to the annual accounts, his net worth was 4.5 billion dollars.
Golf courses and buildings associated with them accounted for $1.76 billion of the values. Trump Tower in New York was listed with a value of 524.7 million dollars. According to the ruling in the lawsuit, this was among the buildings that Trump had inflated the value of. In 2015, the value of the property was reportedly overreported by $120 million.
Cashier at Truth Social
The ex-president’s own social medium, Truth Social, was given the green light to be merged with the company Digital World on Friday. This could mean that Trump can cash in on large stock values, which are currently valued at $3.6 billion. He cannot sell these shares to pay the fine, because he has to wait at least six months to sell.
However, Trump may try to secure a loan based on the value of the shares he owns in the new company. According to analysts, however, a loan will be far less than the share value, as there is a large risk associated with the new company and further value development.
There is little doubt that Trump is very rich. But he denies any wrongdoing, and his lawyers are working hard for him to avoid paying. There are thus more factors than Trump’s wealth that must be taken into account to assess the development of the case.
Tags: Trumps payment deadline expires Monday guaranteed fine
