New York Attorney Gen. Letitia James said her office is prepared to seize some of former president Donald Trump's real estate assets if he is unable to find sufficient cash to cover his nearly half a billion dollar fine.
Speaking in an interview with ABC News's Aaron Katersky, James mentioned Trump's 40 Wall Street skyscraper as one of the assets that they could potentially seize if the former president does not pay the fine. The 40 Wall Street building is estimated to have a market value of $157.1 million, per data from Property Shark.
"If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets," James said in the interview. "We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day."
Behind Trump's Multimillion Dollar Fine
Trump was fined $354.8 million plus $100 million in pre-judgment interest on Friday after Judge Arthur Engoron determined that he falsely altered and inflated his net worth on key financial statements to secure tax and insurance benefits and better loans. The verdict was solely at the discretion of Engoron because there was no jury present at the trial.
"There is overwhelming evidence from both interested and non-interested witnesses, corroborated by documentary evidence, that the buck for being truthful in the supporting data valuations stopped with the Trump Organization, not the accountants," Engoron wrote in his decision.
It is worth noting that Trump's civil fraud fine is accruing at a rate of $112,000 per day, according to Judge Engoron's final judgment. The bond is due March 25, the same day Trump is scheduled for a criminal trial in Manhattan that focuses on him falsifying business records.
Separately, Trump is also expected to pay a fine of $83.3 million in a federal defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll. That bond is due in about two weeks.
Trump has yet to publicly disclose how he plans to put up the cash needed to pay the bonds. However, there is a GoFundMe page aimed at helping fund the former president's legal expenses in the civil fraud verdict. As of Sunday, the page, which has a goal of $355 million, has already raised more than $1.2 million from 22,000 donors.
