No. of Recommendations: 3
This "counter-offer" essentially means Trump does not have the $454 million ($355 million for his original penalty plus 9% accrued interest since the inception of the original charges balloons to $454 million).
Given the size of the award, though, maybe this is just worth a stab?
The difference in premium between a $100 million and $500 million bond is between $4-12 million - probably shading towards the latter. So even if he had the wealth to support the larger bond (cash for the premium and collateral enough to get the bonder comfortable), it might be worth taking a flyer to see if the judge might accept a smaller amount. Sure, it costs money to have your lawyers spin their wheels - but given that there's probably $10M+ riding on the motion, it's probably worth even a longshot chance that you might get the bond amount reduced.
