Sackler family of Purdue Pharma used hidden accounts to transfer $ 1 billion: court documents

The Sackler family, owner of Purdue Pharma, used Swiss and other bank accounts to transfer about one billion dollars from the company to themselves, the New York Attorney General's office announced on Friday.

The family is likely to lose billions of dollars after numerous lawsuits, claiming that his company had marketed the OxyContin painkiller as non-addictive, although knowing the opposite.

The transfers corroborate allegations by New York and other states that the Sacklers have worked to protect their wealth from growing legal threats.

These transfers include $ 20 million from a Purdue parent company to a former board member, Mortimer DA Sackler, who then redirected money to fictional corporations owning homes in Manhattan and the Hamptons, have announced prosecutors. Another family trust, hitherto unknown, came to Sackler for $ 64 million, through an account in Switzerland.

The New York Attorney General's Office has already rejected an agreement in principle with the Sackler and Purdue Pharma family, arguing that it is not doing enough to repair the alleged roles of the company and the Sackler in triggering of the opioid crisis of ordinances that killed 400,000 Americans. over the past two decades, according to the CDC.

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"While the Sacklers continue to discredit the victims and avoid a responsible settlement, we refuse to allow the family to misuse the courts in order to protect its financial misconduct. been provided to date underscores the need to respect subpoena, "said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement.

Under the settlement, Purdue is likely to seek bankruptcy protection. But New York and other states have promised that they would continue to sue the Sacklers, alleging that their family members had drained more than $ 4 billion from the company over the last twelve years . The Sacklers have used a complex chain of corporations and trusts to control their assets, some of which are located in tax havens abroad.

According to estimates by Forbes magazine, the Sacklers had a net worth estimated at $ 13 billion in 2016, making it the 19th richest family in North America.

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This does not include the amount that many believe is hidden.

In its filing Friday, New York told a state judge that the only way to determine the extent of these transfers is to force all those who have been assigned to provide documents to provide details of their interactions with them. the Sackler family. James has sent subpoenas to 33 financial institutions and investment advisers with links to the Sacklers.

Associated Press contributed to this report.