AG Letitia James May Need To Seize Multiple Trump Properties In NY to Cover Fraud Fine In Full

Photo by Tiziano Brignoli

Trump owes $454 million after a New York judge ruled he consistently committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets. And Donald has been unable to come up with enough cash to pay the fine in full. Though his lawyer Alina Habba, claims they will be appealing the decision. They haven't been able to secure the $454m appeal bond.

New York Attorney General Letitia James says she's ready to seize Trump properties to cover the fine, or some of it anyway. So how much are Trump's properties in New York worth anyway? And how many properties does he own there?

Trump owns the service areas of the Trump International Hotel and Tower, retail and commercial portions of the Trump Tower plus a triplex apartment, the ground lease for the Trump Tower building, 30 percent stake at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, some units at Trump Park Avenue, the ground lease at NikeTown, units at Trump Parc and Trump Parc East, some units at Trump Plaza, and his Seven Springs estate in Westchester.

While it is not known for certain exactly how many units he owns on some of these properties, Trump has greatly inflated the value of his assets. He was accused of valuing his Great Depression-era skyscraper as high as $530 million in 2013, despite a bank-ordered appraisal that had put its worth at $220 million the previous year. Trump Park Avenue (where Trump may own some units) is worth around $75 million according to a 2010 valuation. On Trump Parc Avenue, Trump may own only a "handful of apartments" according to a ProPublica investigation. He owns two units at Trump Plaza, and then there's the retail and commercial portions of the Trump tower, and his penthouse which was greatly inflated at $327 million, a price that the lawsuit called "absurd." Trump's property in Westchester was listed at $50 million in a federal ethics filing in 2018.

New York Attorney General Letitia James may need to seize multiple Trump properties in New York to cover the fine in full. A fine that is accumulating, as the $112,000 interest accrues each day. And since the state would have to sell the properties, it is unclear, but likely that it could take multiple properties to pay up the fine. Letitia James could also go after Trump's assets in other states like Florida, where Trump's Mar-a-Lago club is, through a process called "domesticating" the judgment in that other state. In addition to that, if there are any bank accounts in New York, she could have those frozen immediately.

Is Donald Trump going broke?

• Yes.
• He's already broke.
• Don't know.