Judge orders Trump to pay $355 million in New York civil fraud case

New York, Feb 17 (IANS) A New York judge has ordered Donald Trump to pay a fine of nearly $355 million in a civil fraud case.

The bombshell ruling from Justice Arthur Engoron came on Friday after a civil trial in New York that was filled with drama, the BBC reported.

Trump and his lawyers repeatedly clashed with the judge both inside and outside the courtroom.

The former US President has also been banned from doing business in New York for the next three years.

The ruling stems from fraudulent business practices used by the Trump Organization to secure favourable loans.

Trump and his two sons -- Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump -- were found to have massively inflated the value of their properties by hundreds of millions of dollars to get better loans, the British news broadcaster reported.

Trump Jr and Eric Trump have been fined $4 million each. They have been also banned from doing business in New York for the next two years.

Trump's team said that they will appeal the ruling, which the Trump Organization called a "gross miscarriage of justice".