A legal battle by former president Donald Trump to have a $110,000 (£90,300) contempt of court fine imposed by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James dismissed.
The punishment, which was imposed after he refused to turn over documents during an investigation into his business practices, was upheld by an appeals court.
Mr. Trump was hit with a fine of $10,000 per day for failing to follow a court order.
The office of Ms. James is looking into whether Mr. Trump inflated the value of his possessions.
Mr. Trump was required to turn over business records as part of the civil investigation, which Ms. James launched in 2019, or provide a thorough justification for why he was unable to locate the records. Last year, a judge declared him to be in contempt of court after he failed to comply.
After eventually paying the $110,000 fine and adhering to the court order, the former president filed an appeal in the hopes that the punishment would be overturned.
The fine "was not excessive or otherwise improper, under the particular circumstances," a New York state appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
The courts have once again determined that Donald Trump is not above the law, said Democrat Ms. James in a statement on Tuesday.
"He attempted to delay and obstruct our lawful investigation into his financial dealings for years, but today's ruling makes it abundantly clear that there are repercussions for abusing the legal system. We won't be intimidated or deterred from seeking justice. ".
Republican Mr. Trump has referred to the investigation as a "witch hunt" with political overtones. Alina Habba, Mr. Trump's attorney, did not respond to a request for comment right away.
In order to obtain better deals from banks and tax breaks, the lawsuit against Mr. Trump, his real estate company, and three of his children claims that they overstated the value of assets like property.
In addition to a $250 million fine, the attorney general wants to prevent Mr. Trump from holding any corporate officer positions in the state.
The case brought by New York authorities is just one of the former president's numerous ongoing legal matters, which also include a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization's practices in Manhattan, civil lawsuits over the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, a criminal investigation into claims he improperly retained classified documents, a defamation case brought by a journalist who claims Mr. Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, and an investigation into claims he violated the terms of his campaign finance disclosure agreement.
