On Friday, a New York court fined Donald Trump nearly $355 million for financial fraud in his real estate empire, the Trump Organization, AFP reports.

The unprecedented decision is a blow to the fate of the former US president, who is running for re-election in November.

This comes with a three-year businessman’s ban and ban from doing any business in New York State.

In a 92-page court document, New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron barred Trump from conducting “any business or entity in New York for three years” and ordered him to pay $354.86 million in restitution.

State Attorney General Letitia James filed a complaint against him in October 2022 and brought him, his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, and other family members to trial for civil fraud between October and January.

They are accused of significantly inflating the value of the assets of the Trump empire, which is owned by their family.

“Repeated fraud”

James wanted them to pay $370 million in damages for significantly inflating the value of skyscrapers, luxury hotels and golf courses around the world in the 2010s in order to get better loans from banks and better insurance terms.

Some assets, such as Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, symbolize the success of a businessman who entered politics based on his image as a successful builder.

Shortly before the trial, Judge Engoron, with whom Donald Trump has a terrible relationship, ruled that fraud had been committed.

The judge found that the New York State Attorney General presented “compelling evidence that between 2014 and 2021, the defendants (inflated) the assets” of the group by “$812 million (to) $2.2 billion” per year.

As a result of the “repeated fraud,” a judge ordered the liquidation of companies that manage these assets, such as Trump Tower, in late September.

This decision was stayed on appeal.

The 77-year-old tycoon has not stopped speaking out against the justice he sees at the hands of President Joe Biden’s Democrats, denouncing “a process worthy of a banana republic.”

His lawyers argued that the file had no legal content.

Unlike this year’s criminal trials — such as the one set for Thursday, March 25, regarding payments to a porn star — Donald Trump does not face jail time in this civil case.