(NationalUSNews.com) — Attorneys for Donald Trump informed a New York appeals court on Monday that he would not be able to post the bond to cover the $454 million judgment in his civil fraud case while the case was appealed, the Associated Press reported.
In a March 18 court filing, Trump’s legal team said obtaining a bond in the full amount by the March 25 deadline was “not possible under the circumstances presented.”
According to the filing, Trump sought to secure the bond but was rejected by more than 30 underwriters. His attorneys asked the appellate court to reverse a previous ruling that would require Trump to post a bond in the full amount to halt enforcement while the case is under appeal.
If the state’s appeals court does not agree to the request, New York Attorney General Letitia James can begin enforcing Judge Arthur Engoron’s judgment on Monday, March 25.
The attorney general has already said she would begin seizing some of the former president’s assets if the bond was not secured.
According to the Associated Press, possible targets for seizure include Trump’s penthouse in Trump Tower, his golf courses, and Trump’s Wall Street office building.
While Trump insists that he is worth several billion dollars, most of his assets are tied up in real estate. Most underwriters are unwilling to accept real estate assets as collateral, preferring cash or cash equivalents like stocks and bonds, according to the filing.
Trump’s attorneys told the appellate court that selling off some of Trump’s real estate holdings in a “fire sale” would result in significant, unrecoverable losses, making such an option impractical.
However, Trump’s attorneys failed to note that Trump is expected to reap a potential windfall from the pending deal to take his Trump Media & Technology Group public on the stock market.
If the deal is approved in the March 22 shareholder meeting, Trump would own around 58 percent of the shares in the public company, which could be worth several billion dollars.
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