Trump can't 'wriggle out' of Manhattan fraud final verdict by involving Ivanka: experts

With Judge Arthur Engoron scheduled to assess financial penalties against Donald Trump and his Trump Organization in January, questions are being raised over whether there is any way the former president can duck having his business shut down in addition to the massive financial penalties he is expected to be assessed.

Engoron has already ruled that the Trump organization is guilty of financial fraud in an earlier ruling and the next step for him is to determine the penalties in the $250 million case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Asked if the former president can "wriggle out" of the eventual verdict and attendant penalties by, for example, transferring all of his assets to daughter Ivanka Trump who was not party to the lawsuit, John Moscow, a former financial-crimes prosecutor for the Manhattan DA poured cold water on it.

In an interview with Business Insider, Moscow first stated, "He [Trump] can try to claim he was deprived of his property without his Constitutional right to due process. And the answer will be, 'You've had three years of process of law,'" before adding, "It's bulls—t. But they'll try it."

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As for reassigning the assets, that is not in the cards either.

"Couldn't Trump wriggle out of all this by merely moving Trump Organization headquarters out of New York, changing some LLC names, or transferring everything to, say, Ivanka Trump?" Business Insider asked only to be told, "Trump tried some name-game funny business early on, claiming in court documents a year ago that the Trump Organization can't be sued because technically that's just branding shorthand and not a legal entity. Engoron rejected the argument."

Since the attorney general's office already expressed worries about just such a maneuver, "Engoron quickly ordered Trump to alert the court-imposed monitor about 'any corporate restructuring, disposition or dissipation of any significant assets.'"

Business Insider added, "In still more oversight, Trump was ordered to give the monitor 30 days warning of any 'anticipated restructuring,' and 'any plans for disposing, refinancing, or dissipating any significant Trump Organization assets. Alternatively, each month, Trump must submit a sworn statement attesting that no such activity has taken place."'

You can read the full report here.