New York State Attorney Letitia James said she will seize former US President Donald Trump’s assets if he is unable to pay a $454 million (€419 million) fine in a fraud conviction.
She said that, “if he doesn’t have the means to pay the fine, she will look for mechanisms to enforce the judgment and ask the judge to seize his property.”
On February 16, a court in New York ruled that Donald Trump lied about his wealth for years while building the real estate empire that led him to fame and eventually to the White House. Trump vehemently denies the allegations and has announced that he will appeal the verdict.
James did not specify to ABC which Trump properties the state could seize, although she noted that her office is across the street from a Trump-owned office building in Lower Manhattan that was the subject of some of the fraud allegations in her lawsuit.
Trump can avoid asset forfeiture if he has enough money to pay the full amount of the fine, plus interest.
He claimed last year that he had about $400 million in cash in reserve to pay his court fines. The rest of his net worth, which he says is several billion dollars, is tied up in golf courses, real estate and other assets.
Exactly how much money Trump has is unclear because most of the information about his finances comes from Trump himself, which is said to be unreliable.
Since Trump has promised to appeal, it is unlikely that he will have to pay a fine or face the possibility of having his assets seized, and if the court accepts the appeal, he may not have to pay anything, Beta news agency writes.
