Real estate mogul and former president Donald Trump admitted Wednesday he'd have to sell off properties to pay the $450 million he owes in damages after a ruling in his civil fraud trial.
Trump filed a more than 1,790-page emergency motion to a New York appeals court requesting a stay on Judge Arthur Engoron's verdict which he said would cause "irreparable harm," and offering to hand over a $100 million bond instead.
"In the absence of a stay on the terms herein outlined, properties would likely need to be sold to raise capital under exigent circumstances," Trump's attorneys wrote. "And there would be no way to recover any property sold following a successful appeal and no means to recover the resulting financial losses."
As attorney Bradley Moss summarized it, "He doesn’t have the cash."
Moss also noted this contradicts a previous boast of Trump's that he has "$400 million liquid." He made the claim during deposition for the trial involving E. Jean Carroll. He was ultimately found liable for defamation in that case.
The New York Attorney General's office, which brought the massive civil fraud case, believes the appeals court judge will issue a decision by the end of Wednesday, the Daily News reports.
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Trump was found liable for fraud after exaggerating the value of his properties to secure favorable rates for loans and insurance, Engoron found. He hit him with the damages and also ruled that the former president could not conduct business in New York for three years.
Trump filed an intent to appeal, but cannot begin that appeal until the damages are paid or an agreed upon bond is secured. Trump has the difficulty that he is not allowed to borrow money from any banks doing business in New York, as another term of Engoron's ruling.
