Appeals Court dismisses fine of almost $ 500 million against Trump

A New York Court of Appeals annulled on Thursday the fine of about 500 million dollars imposed in 2024 to the president of the United States, Donald Trump, after being sentenced for fraud for business irregularities.

By majority, the judges of the Court of Appeals ratified the verdict, but ruled that the amount of the fine was «excessive» and that «violates the eighth amendment of the Constitution of the United States.»

In February 2024, Judge Arthur Genoron ordered the fine after determining that Trump fraudulently exaggerated his assets and the value of his properties to boost his family business.

Trump’s lawyers argued that any error by informing about their fortune to their lenders and commercial partners was irrelevant because no one was harmed.

In addition to the fine, the sentence also prohibited Trump and the Trump organization to request loans from banks registered in the state for three years, and effectively excluded the children of the business for two years.

The decision does not imply to exonerate Trump of the civil conviction for fraud, although the president has not taken to celebrate what he considers «a total victory.»

«Deeply respect that the Court had the courage to cancel this illegal and shameful decision that harmed companies from all over the state of New York. Others feared doing business there. The amount, including interests and fines, exceeded 550 million dollars. It was a political witch hunt, in the business sense, as no one had seen before,» he wrote in his social network social.