Trump must pay more than $350 million and is banned from doing business in New York

A New York judge handed Donald J. Trump a crushing defeat in his civil fraud case on Friday, finding the former president liable for conspiracy to manipulate his assets and ordering him to pay a fine of more than $350 million that his could wipe out your entire life. stock of cash.

Judge Arthur F. Engoron's decision caps a chaotic, years-long case in which New York's attorney general took Trump's fantastic wealth claims to court. With no jury, the power lay solely in the hands of Judge Engoron, and he came down hard: the judge imposed a host of sentences that threaten the former president's business empire, while simultaneously facing four criminal charges and trying to get back the White House.

Not only did Judge Engoron impose a three-year ban preventing Mr. Trump from holding top positions at any New York company, including his own, but the judge also applied that sentence to the former's adult sons for two years president. One of the sons, Eric Trump, is the de facto CEO of the Trump Organization, and the ruling casts doubt on whether any member of the family can run the company in the short term.

Mr Trump will appeal the financial penalty – which could reach $400 million or more once interest is added – but will have to come up with the money within 30 days or secure a bond. The ruling will not make him bankrupt because most of his wealth is in real estate.

Mr. Trump is also likely to ask an appeals court to lift restrictions placed on him and his sons from running the company while it considers the case.

But there may be little Mr. Trump can do to thwart one of the judge's most consequential sentences: extending for three years the appointment of an independent monitor who will be the court's eyes and ears in the Trump Organization, which will guard against fraud and doubt. transactions that look suspicious.

Mr. Trump's lawyers have railed against the monitor, Barbara Jones, saying her work has already cost the company more than $2.5 million; the decision to expand her oversight of the private family business could infuriate the Trumps, who see her presence as irritating and insulting.

This is a developing story and will be updated.