A New York judge ruled Friday against Donald Trump, imposing a $364 million penalty over what the judge said was a yearslong scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated the former president’s wealth.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued his decision after a two-and-a-half-month trial that saw the Republican presidential front-runner bristling under oath that he was the victim of a rigged legal system.
Trump has said there was no victims, and that the company’s he was dealing with never complained. He said contracts between the Trump Organization and lenders required them to do their own due diligence.
The stiff penalty was a victory for New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, who sued Trump over what she said was not just harmless bragging but years of deceptive practices as he built the multinational collection of skyscrapers, golf courses, and other properties that catapulted him to wealth, fame and the White House.
Trump’s lawyers had said even before the verdict that they would appeal.
The Associated Press contributed to this article