Billionaire who floated Trump's $175 million fraud bond says he 'didn't charge enough'

M.L. Nestel
April 5, 2024 

Donald Trump (Photo via AFP)

The billionaire white knight who swooped in to cover the $175 million surety civil fraud bond to assist Donald Trump is feeling a little buyer's remorse for assessing such bargain basement fees.

"We thought it would be an easy procedure that wouldn't involve other legal problems and it's not turning out that way," Hankey told Reuters, voicing his strain over the speed bumps his offering has encountered not disclosing the amount of fees charged. "We probably didn't charge enough."

On April 1, former President Donald Trump via billionaire Don Hankey, who owns the Knight Speciality Insurance Company (KSIC), reportedly met the obligation to secure the $175 million bond before the deadline while he fights the $464 million disgorgement ruling made by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron.

It has since been “returned for correction."

Holding up the bond is the fact that Hankey's surety company, which isn't based in New York, has to show its financials have "sufficiently collateralized by identifiable assets."


Trump resubmitted the documents on Thursday with the proper information in hopes his bond would be accepted.

And Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who presided over the months-long fraud trial and ruled against the former president — has called for an April 22 hearing to deal with the bond snags.


The judge found the president's eponymous company The Trump Organization, along with his grown sons, Eric and Don Jr., along with former CFO Allen Weisselberg, committed fraud for years to hype up the value of real-estate portfolio assets to secure advantageous loan and deal terms.

Hankey didn't disclose the fee, but suggested KSIC chose a lower amount because initially the risk was low.

"We have been getting a lot of emails, a lot of phone calls," he said, adding he didn't regret jumping into the fray. "Maybe that's part of the reason he had trouble with other insurance companies."


Hankey told Reuters that he was taken aback by James scrutiny of the bond, saying he was "surprised they're coming down harder on our bond or looking for reasons to cause issues with our instrument."