Trump wins pause of $454 million civil fraud ruling, avoiding asset seizures

By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump won a bid to pause his $454 million civil fraud judgment if he posts a $175 million bond within 10 days, a victory for the former U.S. president that blocks New York state authorities from beginning to seize his assets as soon as Monday.

A mid-level state appellate court granted Trump's request to delay enforcement of a Feb. 16 judgment against him for overstating his net worth and the value of his real estate properties to dupe investors and lenders while it considers his appeal in the case.

The decision eases an acute cash crunch brought on by Trump's mounting legal expenses.

The attorney general's office and Trump's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, had said on social media that he could be forced to sell assets at potentially "fire sale prices" to post bond in the case pursued by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump is the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election.

Before the pause was granted, Trump had until Monday to pay before James could have asked a court to start seizing his assets to satisfy the judgment, including prized real estate holdings like 40 Wall Street in Manhattan.

Trump continues having to balance raising money for both his campaign and his legal expenses - costs that are likely to rise as he faces four upcoming criminal trials. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the criminal cases and has denied wrongdoing in all of the cases.

In the New York civil case, Trump was found liable for fraudulently inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to secure better loan and insurance terms. He has said the case is a political vendetta by James, a Democrat who filed the civil suit in 2022.

Before a three-month, non-jury trial in Manhattan, Justice Arthur Engoron found Trump had engaged in fraud by overvaluing properties including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, his penthouse apartment in Manhattan's Trump Tower, and various office buildings and golf courses. The trial focused primarily on how much Trump should pay in penalties.

Trump in another case on March 8 posted a $91.6 million bond to cover an $83.3 million defamation verdict for writer E. Jean Carroll, who said he defamed her by branding her a liar after she accused him of raping her decades ago. Trump has denied wrongdoing and is appealing.

The criminal cases Trump faces stem from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, his handling of classified documents after leaving office in 2021, and hush money paid before his 2016 election to a porn star who said she had a sexual encounter with him years earlier.

In a separate case on Monday, Trump's lawyers sought a delay in a New York state criminal trial over hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, disclosing that new federal documents had emerged.

(This story has been refiled to update the headline)

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Additional reporting by Jack Queen in New York and Nathan Layne in Milton, Connecticut; Editing by Will Dunham and Noeleen Walder)