New York Judge Arthur Engoron found Donald Trump, his sons and the entities he controls liable for submitting “blatantly false financial data” which resulted in “fraudulent financial statements.” These fraudulent financial statements were given to banks and other lenders which required personal guarantees from Trump. These fraudulent statements were submitted “in order to borrow more and at lower rates.”

How blatant were the overvaluations? Here are a few examples.

Twelve rent-stabilized apartments at Trump Park Avenue were intentionally valued as if they were unregulated and could be sold at “aspirational” prices resulting in a 700% overvaluation.

Donald Trump valued Mar-a-Lago at “between a billion and a billion five” as if it were a private residence and not a social club despite knowing that “Mar-a-Lago is a social club.”

Eric Trump valued undeveloped lots at Seven Springs at $161 million even though he was aware of outside appraisals that took a conservation easement into account and valued the property at between $5.5 million and $24 million.

Donald Trump Jr. represented the value of Donald Trump’s Trump Tower Triplex based on the false assertion that it was 30,000 square feet when property records indicated it was 10,996 square feet. This resulted in a $200 million overvaluation.

Land at the Aberdeen Golf Course was valued as if 2,500 private residences had already been built when in fact permission had been granted to construct 500 yet-to-be built homes.

The defenses put forth by Trump and the other defendants were rejected by the judge.

Defendants claimed that lenders did not rely on any misrepresentations. The judge found that the lenders did rely on the misrepresentations. In any case, Defendants intended to deceive the lenders and intention itself creates the liability.

Defendants said none of the lenders complained. The judge noted that the statute in question did not require a complaint from the lenders.

After acknowledging that the loans were paid back in full and on time, the judge wrote, “Timely and total repayment of loans does not extinguish the harm that false statements inflict on the marketplace…. the common excuse that “everybody does it” is all the more reason to strive for honesty and transparency and to be vigilant in enforcing the rules…. the next group of lenders to receive bogus statements might not be so lucky. “

Defendants claimed different appraisers would reach different conclusions and any differences were immaterial. The judge wrote: “The frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience.”

Proving that “New York means business in combatting business fraud,” the Judge ordered Trump and various Trump entities to disgorge $168 million in interest savings and $187 million in development profits made possible by loans that would normally have been unattainable. Sons Eric and Don Jr. were ordered to disgorge $4 million each.

Anyone reading Judge Engoron’s 92-page ruling will find it hard to credit Donald Trump’s out-of-court claims that his conduct was perfect. And, although the judge did not say so explicitly, there were victims of Trump’s fraud — the bank shareholders who did not get the profits they should have received, the honest borrowers who paid more because Trump paid less and other developers who might have purchased and profited from the properties that Trump obtained with low-cost loans.

Jeffrey Scharf welcomes your comments. Contact him at jeffreyrscharf@gmail.com.