Lawyers representing the New York Attorney General have urged Judge Arthur Engoron to deny former President Donald Trump’s $175 million bond for his civil judgment and instead demand that he post a new one within a week.
Letitia James argued that the former president did not prove that Knight Specialty Insurance Company, the company responsible for his bond, possessed the necessary financial means to fulfill the bond in the event that Trump’s appeal was unsuccessful.
In the filing, James expressed his concerns about the justification of KSIC being the surety on such a significant project. He argued that the defendants and KSIC have failed to provide sufficient reasons to support their decision.
In February, Engoron concluded that Trump and his co-defendants participated in a scheme lasting for a decade to artificially inflate the former president’s net worth, with the intention of securing more favorable business deals and loan interest rates.
The risk of having his properties seized hung over Trump when he couldn’t secure a bond for the $464 million judgment. However, there is some relief as a New York Appellate Court has now reduced the amount of money Trump would need to post to $175 million.
On April 1, Trump and his co-defendants were able to meet the bail requirement by posting a substantial $175 million bond.
The attorney general’s filing stated that Trump and the company did not provide sufficient evidence of collateral for the bond, except for $175 million in cash held in a Charles Schwab brokerage account. James, in the motion, also expressed concerns about KSIC’s use of affiliates in the Cayman Islands to lower their reported liabilities, which is alleged to be a violation of federal laws.
According to James, the filing revealed that KSIC, a small insurer not regulated by New York’s insurance department, had no prior experience writing surety bonds in New York or any other jurisdiction in the past two years. Furthermore, KSIC has a total policyholder surplus of only $138 million.
Judge Engoron has scheduled a hearing for this issue on Monday.
Don Hankey, the chairman of Knight Insurance Group, chose not to provide any comment regarding the matter.
