A New York judge has found Donald Trump and his adult sons liable for fraud and cancelled the Trump Organization's business certification, saying the Trumps provided false financial statements for roughly a decade.
Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling came days before the civil case involving the New York attorney general's office and the former president was set to go to trial.
Engoron granted Attorney General Letitia James' motion for summary judgment, finding Trump, his sons, and others "to be liable as a matter of law for persistent violations" of New York state law. CNN reports that the financial statements the Trumps provided to lenders and insurers for about a decade were false and said they repeatedly engaged in fraud.
The decision is a blow to Trump and a complete rejection of his arguments that he didn't inflate the values of his golf courses, hotels, and homes at Mar-a-Lago and Seven Springs on financial statements that were repeatedly used in business.
"Today, a judge ruled in our favour and found that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in years of financial fraud," James said in a statement Tuesday night. "We look forward to presenting the rest of our case at trial."
The attorney general has sought $250 million in damages, a ban on the Trumps from serving as officers of a business in New York, and to stop the company from engaging in business transactions for five years.
The judge cancelled the business certifications of the Trump entities that are defendants in the case, including the Trump Organization, and said a receiver will be put in place to "manage the dissolution" of the corporate entities. There are two New York properties that are part of the lawsuit, the commercial tower at 40 Wall Street and the Trump family compound at Seven Springs.
However, the full breadth of his ruling remains unclear.
Questions remain as to how the receiver would dissolve the properties if the ruling would impact properties located outside of New York state, including Mar-a-Lago, and if the Trumps could transfer the New York-based assets into a new company located out of state.
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