Former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants will have to pay $364 million for fraudulently misstating the value of his and his company’s assets on financial statements, a New York judge ruled Friday, levying significant punishments against the ex-president and his business that could hurt him financially and affect his business’ operations.

“In order to borrow more and at lower rates, defendants submitted blatantly false financial data to the accountants, resulting in fraudulent financial statements,” Engoron wrote. “When confronted at trial with the statements, defendants’ fact and expert witnesses simply denied reality, and defendants failed to accept responsibility or to impose internal controls to prevent future recurrences.”

Trump and his co-defendants are expected to appeal Engoron’s ruling and it remains to be seen how long that could take to play out. Despite the appeal, Trump will still be required to either pay cash into a court-controlled account or secure an appeals bond within 30 days of the judgment. Trump has already separately appealed Engoron’s ruling finding him liable for fraud, which also ordered for his business certificates to be canceled. That part of the order has been paused during the appeal.

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at approximately $2.6 billion as of October, with an estimated $426 million in liquid assets. From 2011 to 2021, the years covered by James’ initial lawsuit, estimates for Trump’s net worth ranged between $2.5 billion (in 2020 and 2021) and $4.5 billion (in 2015). Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen alleged in testimony that Trump inflated the value of his assets in part to achieve a higher spot on Forbes’ wealth ranking.

The former president has strongly opposed the allegations against him as the trial moved forward, characterizing the attorney general’s case as a politically motivated “witch hunt” designed to harm his presidential campaign. During closing arguments in the trial, Trump claimed the case was a “fraud on me” and Engoron should force James to pay him damages instead, calling himself an “innocent man.” “I did nothing wrong—they should have to pay me,” Trump said at the January hearing.

It’s possible the fraud trial could lead to other legal consequences, as recent reports suggest former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, one of the defendants in the case, is now in plea negotiations with the Manhattan district attorney’s office for perjury charges. Weisselberg was pulled off the stand during the fraud trial after Forbes accused him of lying under oath, as the ex-CFO testified he “never focused” on the size of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse—while notes and emails from Weisselberg’s discussions with Forbes show otherwise. Weisselberg has not yet made any admission of perjury and no charges have been brought against him, but Engoron asked the state and defense counsel about the reports in a letter Feb. 6, suggesting that if Weisselberg perjured himself, his “testimony on other topics could also be called into question,” and the judge could disregard it altogether.

James first sued Trump and his co-defendants in September 2022, accusing the ex-president and his associates of misstating valuations on financial statements more than 200 times between 2011 and 2021. The case moved forward to trial in October—though Ivanka Trump was dismissed from the case in June—and wrapped up with closing arguments on Jan. 11. While Engoron had already found Trump and his co-defendants liable for fraud by misstating valuations, the state argued at trial that the fraud was committed intentionally, claiming the Trump Organization was “burning through cash” between 2014 and 2017 and needed favorable business deals with lower interest rates in order to stay afloat and keep up Trump’s spending. Cohen also claimed in court that Trump directed him and Weisselberg to intentionally inflate the value of assets in order to reach Trump’s desired net worth, which Trump and his attorneys refuted, painting Cohen as a “liar.” Trump’s attorneys used the trial to distance the ex-president and his sons from the alleged fraud scheme, repeatedly claiming they didn’t play a role in preparing the statements at issue, even as the Trumps signed off on them. Trump and his sons cast responsibility for any alleged issues on the company’s accountants, claiming they relied on their expertise to ensure valuations were correct. The ex-president’s attorneys also claimed any mistakes the company did make were victimless, because the financial institutions the company did business with were happy with Trump and did not lose money.

The verdict comes after Trump was already ordered to make another high-dollar payment in his civil defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, as a jury ordered him on Jan. 26 to pay Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her. Trump has vowed to appeal that ruling, but it’s likely he’ll also still have to put the money into a court-controlled account while he does so, as he already did in Carroll’s first trial against him, which resulted in a separate $5 million damages verdict, or secure an appeals bond.

Trump Fraud Trial Ends—Here Are The Punishments He Could Soon Face (Forbes)

Trump Fraud Trial: Here’s What We Learned From Months Of Testimony As Case Nears End (Forbes)

Here’s How Much Donald Trump Is Worth (Forbes)

Trump’s Longtime CFO Lied, Under Oath, About Trump Tower Penthouse (Forbes)

How Trump Fooled Deutsche Bank (Forbes)

Trump Thought His D.C. Hotel Would Bring In Twice As Much Money As It Did (Forbes)

Bad Accounting Or Fraud? Trump’s Profit Numbers Don’t Add Up (Forbes)

How Trump, Master Of Avoiding Paper Trails, Finally Got Caught With One (Forbes)