Former US President Donald Trump could be banned from real estate in New York, a potentially devastating blow to his real estate empire that catapulted him to fame long before he won the White House.

Trump is accused of securing loans with false financial reports for several years. After a heated trial that lasted more than three months, a Manhattan court will announce its verdict this week.

The New York fraud case is just one of several legal cases against Trump that continue to intensify even as he moved closer to the nomination as the Republican presidential candidate after his decisive wins in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary earlier this month.

Here’s what we know about this civil lawsuit and how it could impact Trump’s presidential campaign:

What is this case about?

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against the former president, the Trump Organization, and top officials at the company on September 21, 2023, even though an investigation into the former president’s business dealings had already been underway for about three years.

In the submissionJames accused Trump and Trump Organization officials – including his children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. – of “knowingly and intentionally” creating over 200 overly inflated financial valuations between 2011 and 2021 that helped the company secure cheap loans from banks Insurance companies will receive $250 million.

These actions violated New York’s executive anti-fraud law, James wrote in her lawsuit, seeking a $250 million penalty against Trump.

Senior Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney were also named as defendants, along with companies and facilities owned by Trump, such as 40 Wall Street, a skyscraper in Manhattan’s Financial District. Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are co-defendants in the case.

What did the judge say about Trump?

In a September 27, 2023, summary judgment that essentially resolved the key claims in the lawsuit, Chief Judge Arthur Engoron of the Manhattan Supreme Court ruled that Trump had committed years of fraud by massively inflating his property value to lenders. For example, one statement noted that his Mar-a-Lago estate was inflated by about 2,300 percent of its actual price.

Judge Engoron dissolved some of the former president’s companies, also ordered the revocation of the Trump Organization’s business license and appointed an independent monitor to monitor the company.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and has appealed the original ruling. In October, an appeals court temporarily stayed the company’s dissolution portion of the ruling. Trump’s lawyers argued that about 1,000 employees could be affected. James’ team agreed to suspend enforcement pending a final decision.

In the indicted follow-up trial to decide additional claims in the attorney general’s lawsuit, Trump’s lawyers asked that the lawsuit be dismissed on the grounds that it was politically motivated; that his accountants were to blame for false financial reports; and that no specific person or entity was harmed by these statements.

Could this have an impact on Trump’s political campaign?

Trump’s presidential campaign has impacted the civil lawsuit — and the myriad legal challenges facing the Republican front-runner in the run-up to November’s presidential election.

The former president has appeared at court hearings he is not legally required to attend and given impassioned speeches to rally his supporters behind opponents seeking to block his re-election, taking aim not only at him but also at his supporters .

He also used these court appearances to take action against state officials. Trump accused James, New York’s attorney general, of targeting him for political reasons, calling her a “political hack” who won her job because she promised to take action against him.

Despite the judge’s refusal, Trump said in court at the closing of the fraud cases on January 11 that the case was a “fraud on me.”

“We have a situation where I’m an innocent man, I was being stalked by someone running for office,” Trump said, referring to James, a Democrat who was trying to run for office in the 2022 election to run for governor of New York, but later dropped out. “They want to make sure I don’t win again,” he added.

During the three-month trial, Trump made insulting comments about the judge to his supporters and said Engoron was a biased “Trump hater.” He also attacked Engoron’s law clerk Allison Greenfield on his social media platform Truth Social, saying she was “politically biased and out of control.”

Judge Engoron imposed a gag order on the former president and later fined him $15,000 for violating that order.

Could Trump face criminal sanctions?

Civil cases like this typically result in fines and prohibitions called injunctions, unlike criminal cases, which often end in prison sentences.

James had recommended a penalty in her lawsuit against Trump: that the former president and his children be stripped of their leadership positions at the Trump Organization and that Trump and the company be barred from any real estate purchases in New York over the next five years.

In addition, the attorney general recommended banning Trump and the Trump Organization from accessing credit for five years and appointing independent monitors and trustees for the Trump Organization.

As Judge Engoron’s final ruling looms, it will likely add to his previous rulings that some of Trump’s companies will have their licenses revoked, some will be dissolved and others will be independently monitored.