A New York judge on Monday ordered former US President Donald Trump to pay $10,000 a day until he agrees to provide accounting and tax records as part of a civil investigation into his companies.
“This is a great victory, a court has ruled in our favor in convicting Donald Trump of disability,” Democrat New York State Attorney General Letitia James wrote on Twitter.
The former president “has to pay $10,000 a day as long as he continues to defy a court order to deliver documents to my office,” said James, who has been investigating possible fraud in the Trump Organization’s tax practices for years.
On February 17, prosecutors got a New York judge to testify under oath as part of that investigation, a decision the Trumps are appealing.
The court also requested a set of accounting and tax records on the Trump Organization before March 31.
In the absence of a response, James returned to appear in the New York State Supreme Court, demanding that Trump be held liable for “obstruction for his refusal to comply with a court order.”
The Attorney General of New York suspects that the Trump Organization “fraudulently” inflated the value of its real estate by applying for bank loans and underestimated it to the authorities in order to pay less taxes.
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said she would appeal Monday’s decision.
“All of the documents responding to the subpoena were presented to the Attorney General months ago. This is not even close to the standard of a disregard motion,” he said in a statement.
Trump and his family have made multiple attempts to complete the James investigation.
In addition to this investigation, which is taking place in the civilian sector, a separate criminal case has been opened in Manhattan over possible financial fraud within the Trump group.