Trump cannot delay watchdog for his company, court rules

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday lost a bid to delay the appointment of a watchdog at his real estate company, which is facing a civil fraud lawsuit by the New York state attorney general.

The Appellate Division, a mid-level state appeals court, rejected Trump's request for a stay of Manhattan-based Justice Arthur Engoron's Nov. 3 order requiring an independent monitor for the Trump Organization.

New York Attorney General Letitia James had filed a $250 million civil lawsuit in September against Trump; his adult children Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka; the New York-based Trump Organization and others for allegedly overvaluing assets and Trump's net worth through a decade of lies to banks and insurers.

She asked in October for a monitor to be installed before the case goes to trial to halt ongoing fraud at the company. That came after Trump's company created a new entity, "Trump Organization II LLC," that she viewed as a possible attempt to offload assets out of her reach.

Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said at the time that the Trump Organization had "no intention of doing anything improper."

Trump said Engoron "rubber-stamped" James' attempt to interfere in private commercial transactions "without any express statutory authority." James' office has said state law allows her to sue.

Habba did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Engoron, a Manhattan trial court judge, gave both sides a Nov. 10 deadline to recommend three candidates for the job.

The order bars the defendants from transferring assets without court approval, and requires that the monitor receive a "full and accurate description" of the Trump Organization's structure and assets.

Engoron called appointing a monitor "the most prudent and narrowly tailored mechanism to ensure there is no further fraud or illegality," citing misrepresentations in Trump's statements of financial condition from 2011 to 2021.

James' office said in a court filing earlier on Wednesday that a stay would allow Trump and his company to "engage in clandestine transactions" to prevent the attorney general from recovering funds or assets, adding that a monitor would "preserve the status quo."

Trump, a Republican, last week called Engoron's order "ridiculous," and the Trump Organization called it an attempt by James, a Democrat, to influence Tuesday's midterm elections.

The case is among many legal battles Trump faces as he mulls an expected 2024 bid for the presidency.

Testimony began last week in another Manhattan courtroom in a criminal case by the Manhattan district attorney's office accusing the Trump Organization of scheming to defraud tax authorities for at least 15 years.

The company has pleaded not guilty.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)