Trump sanctioned for fraud in New York

 New York Executive Law 63 (12)

Whenever any person shall engage in repeated fraudulent or illegal acts or otherwise demonstrate persistent fraud or illegality in the carrying on, conducting or transaction of business, the attorney general may apply, in the name of the people of the state of New York, to the supreme court of the state of New York, on notice of five days, for an order enjoining the continuance of such business activity or of any fraudulent or illegal acts, directing restitution and damages and, in an appropriate case, cancelling any certificate filed under and...the court may award the relief applied for or so much thereof as it may deem proper.

The word "fraud" or “fraudulent” as used herein shall include any device, scheme or artifice to defraud and any deception, misrepresentation, concealment, suppression, false pretense, false promise or unconscionable contractual provisions. The term “persistent fraud” or “illegality” as used herein shall include continuance or carrying on of any fraudulent or illegal act or conduct. The term “repeated” as used herein shall include repetition of any separate and distinct fraudulent or illegal act, or conduct which affects more than one person.

A 35 page summary judgment opinion, if upheld, could spell the end of Donald Trump as a force in the New York real estate world.  Heir to a skein of  middle class low rise Brooklyn apartment buildings, he  transformed himself into an icon of extravagance and bluster.  But now a New York trial judge Arthur F. Enguron labeled Donald Trump a fraud

On November 3, 2022, this Court found preliminarily that defendants had a propensity to engage in persistent fraud by submitting false and misleading Statements of Financial Condition ("SFCs") on behalf of defendant Donald J. Trump ("Donald Trump"). ..accordingly, the Court granted a preliminary injunction against any further fraud and appointed the Hon. Barbara S. Jones (ret.) as an independent monitor to oversee defendants' financial statements and significant asset transfers.

Donald Trump has protested that because his clients and lenders have not filed complaints that  assert they suffered losses.  Justice Enguron responded:

However, that is completely irrelevant. As the Ernst & Young Court noted:

(W]here, as here, there is a claim based on fraudulent activity,

disgorgement may be available as an equitable remedy,

notwithstanding the absence of loss to individuals or independent

claims for restitution. Disgorgement is distinct from the remedy of

restitution because it focuses on the gain to the wrongdoer as

opposed to the loss to the victim. Thus, disgorgement aims to

deter wrongdoing by preventing the wrongdoer from retaining illgotten

gains from fraudulent conduct. Accordingly, the remedy of

disgorgement does not require a showing or allegation of direct

losses to consumers or the public; the source of the ill-gotten gains

is "immaterial."