Necrobump
The appeal ruling for Purdue and the Sacklers came out a few days ago with as much as $6 billion to be paid out by the family over a period of 18 years, and the Sacklers have been given immunity from civil liability.
Quote:
Under the plan approved Tuesday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, members of the wealthy Sackler family would give up ownership of Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue, which would become a new company known as Knoa, with its profits being sent to a fund to prevent and treat addiction.
Family members would also contribute $5.5 billion to $6 billion in cash over time, or around half of what the court found to be their collective fortune, much of it held offshore. A chunk of that money — at least $750 million — is to go to individual victims of the opioid crisis and their survivors. Payments are expected to range from about $3,500 to $48,000.
Tuesday’s decision also protects members of the Sackler family from lawsuits over the toll of opioids, even though they did not file for bankruptcy.
The court’s ruling reversed a 2021 ruling that found bankruptcy court judges did not have the authority to approve a settlement that would offer bankruptcy protections for those who have not filed for bankruptcy.
Those protections are at the heart of the proposed deal that would end claims filed by thousands of state, local and Native American tribal governments and other entities. Sackler family members have been clear that without the protections, they won’t hold up their part of the deal.
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https://apnews.com/article/opioid-cr...79960d930a5b84
Apparently way back in advance of the first trial, they also abruptly moved their head office to a district with only a single bankruptcy judge in it, and right after the trial that judge retired from the bench and took a position with a law firm that have the Sacklers as a client.
The Sacklers apparently also used as leverage in this that if the deal wasn't accepted with terms favorable to them they would simply not pay as their funds are offshore in Jersey and payment couldn't be enforced by US prosecutors.
So, it seems they drained the money from the company, they moved the money offshore, the company filed for bankruptcy, they very likely corrupted the judicial process, and they ended up with civil liability protection and favorable terms despite not having filed for personal bankruptcy. Meanwhile, people who suffered will receive between $3,500-$48,000, but only if they can actually produce all the required documents to verify harm done to them.
Given the 18-year payment term, the Sackler family wealth will still very likely be much more than it is today by the time they finish paying for the harm they caused. If they get just a 4%-5% return on their assets over the next 18 years, it will be almost like nothing ever happened.