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WASHINGTON – The New York Attorney General's Office announced in a document filed Friday by a court that he had discovered at least one billion wire transfers from the Sackler family, fueling claims that the owners of the manufacturer OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, was attempting increasing numbers of lawsuits for their role in the opioid crisis.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James has summoned 33 financial institutions to provide information on the Sackler family's heritage, and Friday's deposit is the answer to a question. the only unnamed institution.
"While the Sacklers continue to discredit the victims and circumvent a responsible settlement, we refuse to allow the family to misuse the courts in order to protect their financial misconduct," James said in a statement. "The limited number of documents that have been provided to us underlines the need to respect each subpoena".
Some Sackler family money transfers were routed via Swiss bank accounts, one of which, worth $ 64 million, connected to Mortimer Sackler, co-owner of Purdue Pharma, via an account "located in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, in the Channel Islands", according to the file. .
More than 50 states and territories are suing Purdue, and this week 27 announced that they were in favor of a proposed deal with Purdue and the Sacklers worth up to $ 12 billion. Lawyers from nearly 2,300 cities and counties pursuing Purdue also expressed support.
However, 25 states and the District of Columbia oppose the deal, in part because they believe it will not pay as much as expected and that some believe the Sackler family does not contribute enough to its personal wealth .
The deal would require the Sackler family to inject $ 3 billion in guarantees, plus an additional $ 1.5 billion in sales related to the sale of an international group of companies that it owns.
The New York AG office, which is among the plaintiffs opposed to the transaction, also alleged in the document filed Friday that Mortimer Sackler had hidden the property of a townhouse located on East 75th Street in Manhattan by the 39; an intermediary of a screen company and that he had failed to reveal its existence. the litigation.
In its records, the Office of the Prosecutor said: "These documents have already allowed the state to identify previously unknown shell companies, which one of Sackler's accused had been in the habit of transferring from the United States. Purdue money in accounts all over the world and then conceal it in at least two separate separate documents. millions of dollars of real estate investments.
In a statement, a spokesman for Mortimer Sackler said: "These transfers dating back a decade, which were perfectly legal and appropriate in all respects, have nothing of interest. 39, is a cynical attempt by the hostile bureau of the AG to generate defamatory titles torpedoing a mutually beneficial settlement supported by so many other states and that would result in billions of dollars going to communities and to locals who need help. "
Josephine Martin, a spokeswoman for Purdue Pharma, said the company declined to comment.
Negotiations on the lawsuit should be held in a bankruptcy court in New York when the company declares itself bankrupt, according to two sources close to the case.
In a recent lawsuit filed in court, the Oregon Attorney General's office said the Sackler had taken $ 11 billion from the company's 2008 to 2018. Oregon AG claims that these transfers have been made to protect the family from an increasing number of lawsuits and "starve" the company, leaving him with no other option than to file for bankruptcy.
A source close to the family has disputed Oregon's allegations to NBC News.
Support for the settlement of the dispute on the table has largely fallen in the ranks of the parties, with the Republican GA supporting it and the AG Democrats rejecting the agreement.
The Republican Attorney General of Idaho, Lawrence Wasden, is a supporter of the Democrats.
"I determined that the terms of settlement agreed by the parties were not in the best interest of the state of Idaho," he said. "As a result, Idaho is not one of the states that accept these conditions and my office will continue to advocate in this regard." Case."
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