You might also want to check out this thread from the time the trial started, discussing the nature of the civil proceedings:
A point of confusion seems to be that some people think either there is a criminal trial for fraud, or a civil suit brought by the victim; nothing in between.
The law in this case is something different: it’s based on the assumption that dishonest business practices harm the community, even if it doesn’t amount to a criminal offence. Therefore a public civil action has been created by the statute, to give the AG NY the power to bring an action to correct the improper business practices.