One of Donald Trump’s lawyers and the lawyers for New York state have reached a settlement agreement over the $175 million bond that the former president recently posted to halt enforcement of his civil fraud judgment while he pursues an appeal in the case.
The agreement was reached before a court hearing was set to be held in Manhattan on Monday.
As part of the deal, Knight Specialty Insurance Company and Trump’s lawyers agreed that the $175 million will be kept in a cash account that will accrue interest but doesn’t have any downside risk. So far, the account has already gained more than $700,000.
By putting up the bond, Trump was able to delay the potential seizure of many of his assets to satisfy the civil fraud judgment of more than $454 million that he lost recently.
New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James brought the case against him, alleging that he and some of the key executives at the Trump Organization defrauded insurers and bankers by exaggerating his net worth.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and he plans to appeal the judgment.
The judgment was issued in February by Judge Arthur Engoron, who ruled that Trump and others in the case deceived insurers and banks by exaggerating the amount of his wealth on many financial statements.
During Monday’s hearing, Engoron had testy exchanges with Christopher Kise, Trump’s attorney in the case.
But, all of that came to an end when settlement terms were proposed by New York’s lawyer, Andrew Amer. At the hearing, he said that New York wanted extra assurances because Trump was able to raise the money for the bond from a small insurance company based outside of New York.
Knight Specialty Insurance is based in Wilmington, Delaware, but is part of the Knight Insurance Group, which is based in Los Angeles.
As part of this deal, the insurance company maintains exclusive control over the $175 million for the bond, and must submit to the jurisdiction of the state court. It also had to agree to not move the money into another financial instrument, such as a mutual fund.
Outside of the courtroom on Monday, one of Trump’s other trial attorneys, Alina Habba, told reporters that the judge in this case “doesn’t even understand basic principles of finance.”
She said:
“We came to an agreement that everything would be the same. We would modify terms and that would be it.”
Trump also criticized Engoron, as he has often done in this case. He said this week that the judge isn’t even understanding of the details of the particular case.
Trump commented:
“He [Engoron] challenged the bonding company that maybe the bonding company was no good. Well, they’re good. And they also have $175 million of collateral — my collateral.”
Now that this agreement is in place, Trump will be able to proceed with the full appeal of the civil judgment.
