Trump faces $250M penalty, business ban in NY upon verdict

The new year could be off to a rough start for Donald Trump.

The former president is facing $250 million in penalties and a ban on doing business in New York when the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial delivers a verdict in the case later in January.

The Manhattan Supreme Court trial — which has been on hiatus since Dec. 13 — is set to resume with closing arguments on Jan. 11, and Justice Arthur Engoron has said he hopes to have a decision in the non-jury case by the end of the month.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking at least $250 million in repayment of alleged ill-gotten gains from Trump, 77, and his co-defendants, including his two eldest sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr.

The Republican 2024 presidential frontrunner is accused of exaggerating the value of his assets by billions on yearly financial statements to get better loan and insurance terms.

Engoron has already found that Trump is liable for fraud, but other claims in James’ lawsuit, as well as a potential final penalty, still need to be ruled on.

The judge could order Trump to pay less — or more — than what the AG is seeking, but one legal expert said it was more likely he will either rule that the ex-president owes the full $250 million, or nothing.

“There has been no clear number of either ill-gotten gain or loss, so I don’t know how the judge would come up with a different number,” Evan Gotlob, a former prosecutor and white collar defense attorney, told The Post.

The court has heard from some 40 witnesses since the trial started on Oct. 2, but not a lot of the testimony focused on how much each lender or insurer lost due to Trump’s alleged fraud — making it unlikely that Engoron would come up with a different number than the sum James is seeking.

“I doubt the judge in this case would go above the amount because they have no basis to unless they have a forensic accountant going through an enormous organization like the Trump Organization, all their books and all the improper benefits they got,” Gotlob said.

It’s also unlikely the judge would set the penalty lower than $250 million, he said.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult, unless one of the judge’s clerks is a secret finance expert, to come up with a number that’s significantly lower — based on what? The evidence hasn’t really gone either way, so that there is $250 million or not,” Gotlob said.

And he said judges tend to try to make financial penalties payable.

“When you’re a judge you find out what they can pay whether — it’s through bankruptcy or not,” Gotlob said. “I think the Trump organization is worth between $1 billion and $3 billion… there is money to pay.”

Engoron in a bombshell ruling from just before the start of trial found that Trump was liable on one of the AG’s main fraud claims and the judge revoked the Trump Organization’s business licenses.

The company can continue to do business as the latter part of the decision was put on hold by an appeals court at least until Engoron issues his verdict.

But even after the verdict is issued, Gotlob predicted it would be years until the case concludes as Trump is likely to appeal any negative ruling all the way to the Empire State’s top court.

“This is a case that I could see, especially knowing how much the former president loves fighting decisions against him, that it’s going to go all the way up to the Court of Appeals,” Gotlob said.

The earliest the case would be resolved is after the 2024 presidential election, since “courts don’t like to get involved in politics,” Gotlob suggested, adding that a final ruling could come down as late as 2025 or 2026.

As for the business licenses getting revoked, Gotlob said he thinks it’ll be years before the Trump real estate empire feels the effects due to the pause of the ruling, pending appeals.

Even if the ruling takes effect, Trump could find ways around it — for instance by running shell companies, the lawyer opined.

Still, “the possibility to lose business licenses for, at a minimum of five or even more years, that’s pretty damaging,” Gotlob said.

“New York is like the epicenter of the business world.”

The real estate tycoon is a defendant alongside his two eldest sons, the Trump Org and others in the case accusing Trump of pumping up the value of his assets on annual statements of financial condition from 2011 through 2021.

Testimony at the trial lasted for 11 weeks and featured the former commander-in-chief, kids Eric, 39, Ivanka, 42, and Donald Jr., 45, all taking the witness stand.

The former first daughter was also initially a defendant on the case until an appeals court dismissed her finding the claims against her were outside the statute of limitations.

All four Trumps denied the AG’s claims and blamed any discrepancies on the financial documents on accountants and lawyers.

Trump was in court for eight days of the trial — which he was not required to attend like he would be in a criminal case — and repeatedly attacked the AG and the case, as well as the judge and even Engoron’s top law clerk.

Engoron issued a limited gag order on the second day of trial barring Trump from publicly speaking about his court staff when the 45th president went after the judge’s chief clerk Allison Greenfield on social media.

The judge has fined Trump for $15,000 finding he twice violated the gag order.