OK Legal People, Have At Trump's Bond

[gab13by13]

You correctly told us how a bond is supposed to work, but that isn't what Trump's bond says.

Trump's bond says that Knight Specialty isn't liable for 175 million if Trump loses his appeal, Trump is liable, so what is the purpose of this bond? Trump's bond says that if Trump loses his appeal it is not responsible for any interest.

People keep saying that Hankey and Knight Specialty need to be investigated, no fucking shit. While SOMEONE is at it, how about investigating Axos bank.

WTF Trump gets away with is astounding, or in this case, is trying to get away with.

Another question I asked, since Axos bank has loaned Trump 225 million dollars to Trump Tower and Doral National Golf course does that mean that Tish James cannot go after those 2 properties? I really doubt that Trump is paying back that 225 million dollars, it's just simply money laundering. has trump made a payment to Axos bank yet?

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-bond-payment-contract/

[gab13by13]

1. Here's another question

I swear about a year ago I read somewhere that Trump moved some money to a small San Diego bank, like say Axos bank.

Let's just speculate that Trump moved 225 million dollars to Axos bank and then Trump takes out 225 million dollars worth of loans to Trump Tower and Doral Golf course. Trump never makes a loan payment so Trump Tower and Doral are protected from Tish James.

Can't be done, Riiight?

[Think. Again.]

2. Hang on, am I wrong to assume ...

....that NYS doesn't have pre-printed Bond documents ready to be signed and notarized with blanks for amounts, for the thousands of bonds they file every year?

Why is this one a unique document?

And if it is a unique document, why was it even accepted by the court clerks?

[gab13by13]

3. Why?

Because Knight Specialty is claiming it is not liable for the 175 million. Knight Specialty is claiming that 175 million is the limit that is in question. Knight Specialty is claiming that interest rates do not apply.

Knight specialty submitted its own document that doesn't comply with New York state bonds.

Seriously, fantastic question, why was it accepted, or was it accepted?

[Think. Again.]

6. Maybe that's what the hearing is about...

...whether this bond is going to be accepted.

But if bond structures are now negotiable in the state of New York, the court is gonna have to hire a whole lot of new clerks.

[3Hotdogs]

4. Purpose of the bond is to delay James from immediately going after his property. If he wins, N.Y. gets nothing.

If he loses, the bond is null and void and she goes after his property like she was gonna do in the first place. Bond is to make sure his money and property do not take a tour to Russia until the case is settled.

[azureblue]

10. and that is the catch

was the omission an honest mistake? I seriously doubt it, because bond companies always make sure they will get their money, so they make certain every document is perfect. For sure,T's lawyers should have caught it, because they knew it would get rejected. And the bondsman is acting all "Oopsie" and saying "well if I had known it would be this complicated ---". Oh Bullshit. It was intentional. If not caught, then Trump gets away with another con. If caught, then Trump will try for another delay.
Or
The state says, "It is up to you to submit complete and accurate documentation, for the bond to be accepted. You failed to do so, but that does not affect the deadline. You still have to meet it, or else the state will seize your properties. Remember, this is NYC, the "tell your story walkin'" city.
My take is Trump thought he could play another game, but the AG will simply re-state the dead line and prepare to take his properties.

[gab13by13]

12. See my question in post #1.

Did Trump protect Trump Tower and Doral Golf course with his loan from Axos bank? Axos bank should have first dibbs on any seizure.

[Captain Zero]

21. Azureblue has the best take on this, imho

Looks to me like he has no bond, thus he can't appeal, and the state can begin liquidating properties for him to pay his judgements, fines, etc.

[3Hotdogs]

24. Not correct. Anal Fistula can appeal whether or not he has a bond.

The bond only delays James from confiscating his assets.

[magicarpet]

29. This is correct.

He can proceed with his appeal of the judgements against him ... but the liquidation of his assets can immediately commence because he lacks a valid bond to cover the judgement and interest that is accumulating.

The questions are,...

1.) Hankey was prepared to and discussed giving the $500M bond to trDUMP, they were in final discussions to provide the the bond to cover the FULL judgement plus interests accrued. Thus allowing trDUMP to proceed with his appeal without his assets being liquidated before the appeal decision was rendered.

trDUMPS lawyers went to the court and falsely claimed they could not secure a $500M bond after trying at 30 sources/attempts to secure a bond.

... 1.).... this was a lie told by trDUMP and his lawyers,.. he was currently in negotiations with Hankey's insurance company to provide the $500M bond. Because the appeals court believed this lie that no bonding company could be found to provide to $500M bond the appeals court lowered the required bond down to $175M, predicated upon this lie.
WILL TRDUMP BE MADE TO SUFFER CONSEQUENCES for this lie after he and his attorneys committed perjury in claims to the New York appellate court that a $500M bond was not available from the open insurance company and/or bonding provider markets after having searched high and low.

The court then lowered the required bond amount from $500M down to $175M. trDUMP then promptly contacted Hankey and said the amount of the required bond was cut by more than 1/2. He no longer needed the $500M bond, and trDUMP could now cover the new lower bond of $175M with cash on hand.

Then a few days later trDUMP reconnected with Hankey to now ask him to provide the new $175M bond which he did. But the validity of that bond is now highly questioned.

~○~○~○~○

After Engoron’s ruling, Trump moved to appeal — but first needed to eitherpost a bond of more than $450 million to stay the financial penalty, or pay it. Weeks later, Trump’s attorneys told the court that he couldn’t do so after approaching 30 surety companies.


But the Hankeys had already begun discussing a potential deal. Hankey said his wife, Debbi, first suggested providing the bond, and then contacted a friend who knew the campaign and connected them with Hankey.

A round of negotiations soon commenced, but last week, an appeals court panel in New York ruled that Trump needed to post only $175 million to appeal.

“We thought our negotiations were finished,” Hankey said. “And we were thanked by the Trump Organization.”

But Trump’s company soon reached out again. “They called back and asked us if we would put up the bond for $175 million,” he said.

It took only a few days to complete the new deal.

Many more details at link below...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/02/don-hankey-trump-bond-175-million-california-auto-loans/

2.) Will this failed $500M bond predicated upon lies of unavailability, then the lowered amount but highly questionable $175M become null and void because the filing of a valid bond in accordance with New York law was not met in a timely manner even though extensions in time were provided by the court.

Will the liquidation of trDUMP's assets be allowed to immediately commence forthwith so the State of New York and the people therein can finally collect upon the judgement rendered by the courts for this fraud perpetrated by trDUMP and his commercial operations?

Enough is enough. America needs closure so we can move on.

This charlatan named TRDUMP needs to finally suffer consequences for his actions against the laws and the order of a civil society, our DEMOCRACY depends upon it.

[Demsrule86]

30. you can appeal without a bond but you will lose assets along the way.

[Mr.WeRP]

15. He won't win

[Tickle]

27. He may not win but

they could lower the amount he owes

[Demsrule86]

31. They could have done that before and didn't...they lowered he bond not the damages.

[gab13by13]

5. My web browser came up with this about Axos bank

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conducted an investigation into Axos Bank during the presidency of Barack Obama. The investigation was prompted by a whistleblower who filed a lawsuit accusing the bank of violating anti-money laundering rules. However, once Donald Trump assumed the presidency, the investigation was closed in 2017. Simultaneously, the whistleblower lawsuit was settled out of court1.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that Axos Bank has been in the spotlight for other reasons. A former internal auditor, Charles Matthew Erhart, who raised concerns about practices at Axos Bank, won a wrongful termination case against the bank. The federal jury awarded him $1 million in damages for emotional distress or harm to his reputation and an additional $500,000 for defamatory statements about him. The jury could not agree on punitive damages, and a new trial on that element is scheduled for this summer. Erhart had alleged that the bank engaged in questionable activities, including high deposit risk concentration, misleading responses to subpoenas, and risky loans to criminals or politically exposed individuals2.

Furthermore, it’s intriguing to observe that Donald Trump, who used to bank with major financial institutions, is now borrowing from Axos Financial, an internet-only institution based in San Diego. The shift in lending sources certainly raises eyebrows and adds to the bank’s visibility.

In summary, Axos Bank has faced scrutiny both from regulatory bodies and former employees, making it a notable player in the financial landscape.

[moniss]

7. Also as I pointed out previously

Knight is saying they don't actually have control of the $175 million he supposedly put up. They say it is in an account somewhere that is "pledged" to them. They refused to specifically describe the type of account such as trust etc. So basically an "account" somewhere holds an amount and maybe only holds a promissory note. So if he loses he can still yank the money or fail to make good on the promissory note. So it is murkier and murkier and the wording of the bond terms is critical as you point out.

[gab13by13]

8. Also, Hankey is a major shareholder

in Axos bank.

[moniss]

9. Yes and the question of surplus is murkier

because now the figures on their web site are different than just a couple of days ago. Knight Specialty is a subsidiary company of that larger organization. Under insurance law you cannot "share" surplus back and forth. That is done so that each company is responsible for it's own proper underwriting, premiums charged, losses and surplus. It prevents a "laundering" of risk. That is important because all policyholders are to be covered and if one policyholder is going to suck up most of the surplus then payment to the other policyholders is at risk. Thought of another way would be that a big insurance company doesn't get to use surplus or profits from it's life insurance subsidiary to cover losses in it's property/casualty subsidiary that has extreme losses for the homeowners insurance it wrote in Florida for example.

You also can't "borrow" money to increase your surplus since that loan would be accounted for as a liability and therefore make no improvement to the bottom line surplus and in fact might make it worse depending on the interest terms since that amount would have to be calculated as a liability also for whenever the interest assessment period would begin.

[azureblue]

11. a circle

Trump creates a "blind" account and pledges the money, even though there is no money there.
Or
Putin puts up the money
I think it's the latter - Trump is laundering Russian money again.

[gab13by13]

13. Yes, through Hankey and Axos bank,

Axos bank has loaned Trump hundreds of millions of dollars but I would be interested to see if he has paid any of that money back yet?

A Russian oligarch propped up Truth Social so that it didn't go under. Truth Social is a legal way for Trump to launder money from Russia.

[moniss]

17. Good possibility

along with his recent chats with Musk and MBS. Knight could be in a good deal of trouble here for issuing a bond for which they apparently admit they do not have any actual control of the collateral. They've all got lawyers who know very well you can't just issue surety paper based on a promise. The issue is more than will Knight pay the bond.

Because all surpluses, pools of risk etc. must be kept separate between companies you cannot have a situation where Knight doesn't get paid but has to pay the bond themselves from their surplus. The reason being that would mean that the other policyholders of Knight Specialized would see premium increases, in this case drastic increases, in order to bring the surplus back to sufficiency. In effect these shenanigans would in effect have other policyholders/insureds picking up the cost for the $175 million over a period of time through higher premiums upon renewal of their policies/bonds. That's why it is illegal to share surplus and also why a surety company can't just go issuing paper promises to pay when they do not have actual control of assets pledged as collateral no matter what form they are in.

Knight may very well see a referral for investigation back to their home state. The failure to file the required forms and info along with the bond is telling also. There is a strategy that says "better to be hit for failing to file than to file a false document" and the lawyers know this by heart. You never put out a document that might bite you. Better to be tardy or just say "We withdraw our previous submissions" and hope the court or party let's it go at that.

The idea that the lawyers "didn't know" these other documents needed to be filed is laughable. Doing the bonds and filings is the day to day business of what the insurance company lawyers do and oversee. I don't think they suddenly forgot. Especially in one of the most high profile bonds in history. That's when you are supposed to check multiple times to make sure everything is in order. They also know not having actual control of this, by their words "cash", collateral is not going to fly. That tells me they were likely overruled by the bosses. Sounds familiar.

[gab13by13]

20. Fantastic explanation

I am going to call Nicolle Wallace after I post this. Are you available at 4PM to be on her show?

[jaxexpat]

25. I see the shorthand of this as,

The Ukraine must undo Putin or we stand a real chance of being stuck with Trump forever because..........money. There may be enough corruption in the US judicial system to prevent his facing his guilt. Ignoring the obvious is very popular with many this year.

[gab13by13]

26. Sadly Trump has a lot of criminal friends with money

Even when he lost his Trump University lawsuit a Las Vegas casino owner paid the 25 million.

[SARose]

18. This

Ding ding ding. Once a crook always a crook.

[edhopper]

14. If Trump loses

And can't pay the 450 million. The bond is forfeited.

[gab13by13]

16. From my link,

The Daily Beast reports that the Knight Specialty Insurance Company's bond contract "doesn’t actually promise it will pay the money if the former president loses his $464 million bank fraud case on appeal" but instead "says Trump will pay, negating the whole point of an insurance company guarantee."

[edhopper]

19. Is that why

NY isn't accepting this bond?

[gab13by13]

22. moniss gave a fantastic explanation, post #17.

[HighFired49]

23. There are other reasons, also

(Leticia)James took "exception to the sufficiency of the surety" given by Trump and the other defendants. She objected to the fact that the bond was issued by a company that is not an admitted carrier in New York, and lacks the certificate of qualification required by New York Insurance Law Section 1111.
Adam Pollock, a former assistant attorney general in New York, said, "This bond is deficient for a number of reasons Including that the company doesn't appear to be licensed in New York and doesn't appear to have enough capital to make this undertaking," Pollock said.

Knight Specialty is not licensed in New York to issue surety bonds, and Lederman noted the company's absence from the Department of Financial Services database. But the company contends it is nevertheless authorized to issue the bond.

The company also does not appear to meet a restriction under New York insurance law barring companies from putting more than 10% of its capital at risk.

Amit Shah, the president of Knight Insurance, said the restriction does not apply. He said Knight has over $1 billion in equity.

"Knight Specialty Insurance Company is not a New York domestic insurer, and New York surplus lines insurance laws do not regulate the solvency of non-New York excess lines insurers," he said. "So we don't believe we need the 10% surplus.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/is-trumps-175-million-civil-fraud-bond-valid-in-new-york/ar-BB1l4OY8

[Ocelot II]

28. This does seem strange. A normal appeal bond would provide a guarantee

to the appellee (New York) on behalf of the appellant (Trump, et al.), if the judgment is affirmed on appeal, the insurer will pay the appellee if the appellant is unable to do so. That's not what this one says - it says only that Trump et al. will pay New York, not that the insurance company will. And it fixes liability "under this bond" at $175M. Whose liability? Did they think nobody would read this?