'Pay up Billionaire': Internet mocks Trump as Letitia James demands full bond over $464M fraud verdict

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: New York Attorney General Letitia James demanded former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants post a full bond to cover the $464 million judgment in the civil fraud case over concerns of penalty evasion, reported ABC News.

In a court filing on Monday, March 11, Senior Assistant Solicitor Dennis Fan said, "Moreover, there is significant risk that absent a full bond or deposit, defendants will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment or to make enforcement more difficult after an appeal."

In February, Trump's attorneys requested New York's appellate court for an emergency stay to prevent the massive penalty verdict from being enforced.

Rather than posting the total bond amount, Trump proposed a $100 million bond, citing the need to sell properties for payment. However, Judge Anil Singh deferred the decision to the full appellate panel.

On February 16, Judge Arthur Engoron hit the ex-president with a $355 million penalty along with approximately $100 million prejudgement interest in the civil case brought by AG James for illegally inflating the price of their properties in the state for decades to secure favorable bank loans. His elder sons and co-defendants, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump were also penalized with more than $4 million each.

Letitia James urges court to treat Donald Trump as any other defendant

In the filing, James urged the court to apply the same rules to Trump as any other defendant, saying, "To stay enforcement of a set monetary judgment pending appeal, the Legislature has required defendants to post a bond or deposit funds in the full amount of the judgment. That requirement applies to defendant Donald J Trump and his co-defendants, just as it applies to any other appellant."

The AG also pointed out that the former president and his co-defendants failed to provide any proof to support the claims that he needed to sell buildings to pay the full amount.

"Defendants have never demonstrated that Mr Trump's liquid assets—which may fluctuate over time—will be enough to satisfy the full amount of this judgment following appeal," she said.

Furthermore, the filing argued that the defendants' appeal would not succeed given their "brazen fraud" to "enrich themselves" through Trump's false "Statements of Financial Condition."

However, the White House hopeful has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, calling the judgment an "ELECTION INTERFERENCE. WITCH HUNT."

The deadline to post the bond is March 25.

Trump posted a $91.6 million bond on March 8 in a separate civil trial verdict after a Manhattan federal jury ordered him to pay $83.3 million to writer E Jean Carroll over defamation charges. Insurance giant Chubb Insurance Company covered this amount.

Internet ridicules Donald Trump

The former president faced intense online mockery after the NY attorney general demanded he should post a bond covering the entire $464 million penalty.

One user wrote on Facebook, "Pay up Billionaire," and another remarked, "But I thought he had billions and billions of dollars."

"Well your are dealing with an expert in evasion...as we all know..." a third user added.

A fourth response read, "Post it all...And when he looses and time comes to pay Musk back, we'll all see Musk Tower, Musk-a-largo, Musk Casino... oh wait, he already lost that one!"

"Pour guy, he might have to cut down on his makeup costs," a user wrote on X.

Some one else added, "Trump's resources are like his hair. They are an illusion, and not what he claims."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.