Now that he’s facing the prospect of having to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for systematic fraud he allegedly committed as head of the Trump Organization, failed former president Donald Trump is about to find himself in a financial bind that could result in him having to either sell off most of the properties he owns or declare financial insolvency.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in fines for the fraud, and a judge will begin to hear arguments in the case Monday. Trump has said he will be present for the hearing, but his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, doubts the Donald will actually appear in person.
Cohen also explained that Trump is cash poor, which will be a problem when the judge makes his ruling on financial penalties.
Appearing on MSNBC, Cohen told host Jen Psaki, “Knowing Donald the way that I do, I would say that there is less than a 20 percent chance that he actually shows up. What is he showing up for? To show, up and to watch, he is not being called tomorrow? He is going to sit and watch as the judge listens to testimony based upon how the evaluations were wrong, how the judge is going to determine the extent of the damage.”
Cohen then explained the $250 million figure is merely a starting point for the fines.
“There is a baseline here of $250 million. She does not believe that it will be less than $250 million. I suspect that it will be in excess of $600 million.”
In addition to the fines, there would be interest and penalties. And that’s where the numbers get really enormous.
For example, if the interest is 2% on $250 million, that would be $5 million annually. Now extrapolate that out over several years.
“So, tack on another five years for that. Compound it, you’re talking about another $30 -35 million. That’s just the interest penalty.”
“I mean, the numbers are really huge here,” he explained.
The end result would be that Trump’s assets would be divided to pay the fines, interest, and penalties. Buildings would be sold, as would other things — such as golf resorts, i.e. Mar-a-Lago — and the disgraced ex-president could soon find himself without a place to live.
Karma has finally arrived for Donald Trump, and it’s about to take one hell of a bite out of his fat ass.
Here’s Cohen on MSNBC:
