California Attorney General Rob Bonta, as part of a coalition of 17 state attorneys general, filed an amicus brief in New York's highest court supporting the state attorney general's authority to pursue fraud cases against private businesses, even when the victims declined to pursue their own remedies.
The brief addresses New York law that authorizes the state attorney general to seek judicial remedies for repeated or persistent business fraud. The coalition urged the New York Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court's ruling that authorized the New York Attorney General to bring an action against Donald Trump and other defendants for fraud against sophisticated business entities.
In 2022, the New York Attorney General sued Trump and other defendants for engaging in financial fraud by inflating Trump's statements of financial condition in submissions to lenders for the purpose of obtaining favorable business deals. A trial court found Trump and the other defendants liable for fraud. The liability finding was upheld on appeal and is now before New York's highest court.
In the brief, Bonta and the coalition asserted that states have a sovereign interest in eradicating fraud from their economies and retain extensive police powers to protect against fraud. Many states' attorneys general have broad authority to enforce antifraud laws even when fraud occurs between sophisticated private parties who do not pursue their own remedies, they argued. The brief states that states' enforcement of antifraud laws in these contexts serves the public interest by protecting stakeholders who lack the practical ability to act, leveling competition, and protecting the public from damage fraud can cause to competitive markets.
The coalition includes the attorneys general of Oregon, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.