Sandy Hook families sued Alex Jones. Then he started moving money around.
Source: Washington Post
Alex Jones was losing in court. Parents of children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School had sued him and his media company for defamation after he repeatedly claimed the 2012 massacre in Connecticut was a hoax. Fans of the Infowars host had harassed and threatened grieving families. By the summer of 2020, two of the lawsuits werent going his way.
As the potential for damages mounted, Jones began moving millions of dollars out of his company, Free Speech Systems, and into companies controlled by himself, friends or relatives, according to a Washington Post review of financial statements, depositions and other court records. The transfers potentially put those funds out of reach of the Sandy Hook plaintiffs. Between August 2020 and November 2021, Free Speech Systems signed promissory notes essentially IOUs for $55 million to cover what it said were past debts to a company called PQPR Holdings that Jones owns with his parents, according to financial records filed in court by Joness attorneys.
PQPR, which is managed by Joness father, a dentist, had bought tens of millions of dollars in supplements for Jones that he then sold on his show, the records say. A lawyer for Free Speech systems has said in court that the debt accrued unnoticed due to sloppy bookkeeping. This year, Jones started paying his personal trainer $100,000 a week to help ship supplements and other merchandise, a Free Speech Systems attorney said in court. A company managed by Joness sister and listed as a supplier or vendor was paid $240,000, financial records show.
Courts have awarded the Sandy Hook families nearly $1.5 billion in damages against Jones, including $45.2 million in a Texas case in August and $965 million in a Connecticut case two months later. On Nov. 10, the judge in the Connecticut case ordered Jones to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages, including $323 million for legal fees. Jones has said on his show that he plans to appeal.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/11/21/alex-jones-sandy-hook-lawsuit/
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ck4829
(35,077 posts)ancianita
(36,095 posts)TeamProg
(6,143 posts)ancianita
(36,095 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,188 posts)in anticipation of claims by potential creditors? I dunno. I'm no lawyer.
IggleDuer
(964 posts)... he had a personal trainer!
Chainfire
(17,550 posts)It couldn't happen to a more evil SOB.
RockRaven
(14,974 posts)public-access cable show back in the 90s. He just turned the dial up to 11 when he got sued. And the civil justice system is so damn slow, he had 5 years to fuck around like this.
WA-03 Democrat
(3,050 posts)There will be a 341 hearing and all of it will be used against Jones that he does not met the means tests for bankrupcy. The Trustee will not be happy. BK or a court of equity is a totally different thing.
PSPS
(13,603 posts)I think that they can stop the hiding and, if someone (Jones) wants to challenge, he has to bond something like 90% to proceed.
WA-03 Democrat
(3,050 posts)and exited (caused by a civil suit that was bananas) you declare this before the jury awards because those awards from the civil suit are not dischargeable under BK.
He should have given all his money to lawyers and had zero and then went down. He will not met the means test and the 341 a federal hearing and under oath with all creditors present. They can ask you anything. The court of equity is awesome in my opinion and if it was up to me Trump would already be there
Mr.Bill
(24,303 posts)Funniest thing I've read today, but it's early.