NEW YORK, April 2, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Embattled former US president Donald
Trump posted a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case Monday, a
court document showed, avoiding payment of a $454 million penalty while his
case winds through the appeals process.

Last week, a New York appeals court cut the $454 million bond payment he was
originally required to pay, reducing the sum to $175 million and giving him
10 days to pay this smaller amount.

The nearly half billion penalty he originally owed had raised the possibility
that New York authorities would move to seize Trump assets if he could not
pay, but the reduction -- and his finding a company to put up the bond, as
announced Monday -- has given him breathing room.

"I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and I will post
$175 million in cash and bonds or security or whatever is necessary very
quickly, within the 10 days," Trump said at the time.

The lifeline has come from a California outfit called Knight Specialty
Insurance Company, which announced the bond in a document released by the
court Monday.

The 77-year-old real estate magnate, who has once again clinched the
Republican nomination, received the fine after Judge Arthur Engoron found him
and his two adult sons guilty in a non-jury trial, ruling that they and his
family company lied about the value of assets, deceiving banks and insurers.

Trump is in prosecutors' crosshairs for a series of alleged crimes, ranging
from falsifying business records in the hush money case to trying to overturn
the 2020 election, when he became the first president in modern US history to
refuse to concede and stoked a mob of supporters to march on Congress.