$175 Million Trump Bond: Underwriter with “Seedy” Past
Title from YouTube: “Bank with a checkered past and a deep history with Trump raises red flags”
Description from YouTube: “While normal banks have shied away from dealing with Donald Trump, one bank has repeatedly bailed him out of tough financial situations, including paying the bond while he appeals his civil fraud trial loss. Rachel Maddow takes a closer look at the bank and the billionaire associated with it to understand why it may not be the lifeline Trump needs”.
Per the article below: “The company underwriting Donald Trump’s $175 million bond is owned by a man who carved out his $7.4 billion fortune by predatory practices, targeting low-income customers with high-interest auto loans”.
Trump’s Civil Fraud Bond Backer Is Even Shadier Than We Thought
Don Hankey’s financial company has a history of unlawful lending practices.
Per the above article: The company underwriting Donald Trump’s $175 million bond is owned by a man whose seedy business practices were flagged by Trump’s own administration.
“Billionaire Don Hankey, also known as the “king of subprime car loans,” was sued by the Justice Department just nine months into Trump’s presidency, after it was discovered that another one of Hankey’s companies, Westlake Services, had illegally repossessed 70 cars belonging to service members, violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, The Daily Beast reported Wednesday.
Westlake settled with the Trump administration in just 10 days, according to a settlement agreement, with the company agreeing to pay $700,000 in damages to affected members and getting fined more than $60,000 by the federal government.
“Westlake and Wilshire specifically target servicemembers, including junior enlisted servicemembers, as customers for their subprime and near-subprime loan products,” prosecutors wrote.
But it wasn’t the first time Hankey’s companies had been penalized by the feds. Two years before the alleged misconduct, Westlake and one of its subsidiaries, Wilshire, were hit by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for “illegal debt collection tactics,” according to the Beast. That resulted in an even larger penalty, including more than $44 million in restitution payouts.
That’s all a part of the game to Hankey, who carved out his $7.4 billion fortune through those kinds of predatory practices, targeting low-income customers with high-interest auto loans.
Hankey’s Knight Specialty Insurance Company is the group that underwrote Trump’s bond for his civil fraud trial, but it’s not Hankey’s only investment in Trump’s financial situation. Hankey is also believed to be the largest shareholder in Axos Financial, according to MSNBC’s Lisa Rubin, a financial institution that in 2022 refinanced more than $50 million of Trump’s loans on Trump Tower and Trump National Doral Miami, according to documents filed with the Office of Government Ethics.
Hankey told Forbes that Knight initiated the deal with the criminally charged GOP presidential nominee, and explained that Trump had used both cash and investment-grade bonds to secure the money with his insurance company. Hankey added that he had never met Trump but had been a supporter of his previous campaigns”.
Trump Bond Company, Knight Specialty Insurance raises many major red flags.
NY AG Tish James challenges Trump’s $175 million bond; will property seizures be back in play?
So it looks like the guy who put up the $175 million bond to stop New York Attorney General Leticia James from seizing Trump’s properties – a guy named Don Hankey – is not credentialed to do business in New York. Accordingly, AG James filed a “notice of exception” to the bond, and Judge Engoron has set a hearing for April 22.
New York AG questions financial strength of company that posted Trump’s bond
New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a notice that is seeking information to ensure that the company that posted former President Trump’s bond in the civil fraud case is financially stable. MSNBC’s Lisa Rubin has details on the filing and what it means for Knight Specialty Insurance.
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