The billionaire responsible for the surety company that issued Donald Trump’s civil fraud bond expressed his opinion that the insurers may not have charged the former president adequately for providing coverage for the pledge.
Former President Trump has posted a $175 million bond on Monday as he appeals a ruling by New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron. The ruling found Trump and others associated with The Trump Organization liable for misleading insurers and lenders in order to secure better financial terms.
The court’s filing system rejected the bond later that day because of missing paperwork, including a “current financial statement.” New York Attorney General Letitia James later raised concerns about the adequacy of the bond.
Don Hankey, the chairman of the Hankey Group based in Los Angeles and the owner of Knight Specialty Insurance Company, which provided the bond for Trump, revealed in an interview with Reuters that his firm charged the former president a nominal fee for putting up the $175 million bond. Although Hankey did not disclose the exact amount of the fee, he mentioned that Knight decided on a lower sum due to the perceived low risk associated with the bond.
Hankey expressed his initial belief that the procedure would be simple and free from any legal complications. However, he now acknowledges that this assumption was incorrect. He also admitted that they may have underestimated the amount they charged for the procedure.
Insureon, an online agency specializing in small-business insurance, states that the fee for a surety bond can vary from 1 percent to 15 percent of the total bond amount.
During the interview, Hankey mentioned that his company has received numerous emails and phone calls after supporting Trump’s bond. He further speculated that this might be the reason why Trump faced difficulties with other insurance companies. Trump’s legal team had appealed to a New York appeals court to reduce the bond amount from the initial $454 million in damages, claiming that it was practically impossible to fulfill the penalty.
According to Hankey, he expressed his astonishment at James’ questioning of the bond. He mentioned that he was taken aback by the fact that they are intensifying their scrutiny of the bond or actively seeking reasons to create problems with their instrument.
In a recent court filing, James’ office has requested that Trump or the bond underwriter provide further justification for the bond. This could potentially involve disclosing additional information about the collateral that the former president offered as security for Knight’s support.
The court had set a hearing date of April 22 to address the specifics of the bond.
