Purdue Pharma’s Sackler family wired billions through Swiss bank accounts: Report
The Sackler family, which owns embattled OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, may have gone to great lengths to shield their profits and fortune from litigators.
The New York attorney general’s office on Friday said the family made about $1 billion in wire transfers through Swiss bank accounts, as reported by The New York Times.
A spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
Purdue Pharma has been cited as a key player in the opioid crisis because of how it marketed OxyContin – misleading doctors and the public about potential risks.
The Purdue family was paid more than $4 billion from Purdue Pharma over the course of about a decade.
According to Forbes, the family is worth an estimated $13 billion.
As reported by The Associated Press last week, the Sacklers shielded much of that wealth in “an intricate web of companies and trusts,” some registered in offshore tax havens like Bermuda.
New York has issued subpoenas to 33 investment advisers and banks to get more information on funds transferred out of Purdue.
Earlier this week, there was a tentative settlement announced for the part Purdue Pharma played in the national opioid crisis – which would require the company to file for structured bankruptcy and pay $12 billion – including about $3 billion from the Sackler family.
The family would also have to give up ownership of the company and sell another one of its pharmaceutical companies – Mundipharma.
Not everyone is satisfied with the terms, however.
When there is a bankruptcy filing, often all other litigation is halted. It is unclear whether a settlement would shield the family, however.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement on Wednesday that the company continued to “lowball the millions of victims of the opioid crisis,” adding that she would “continue to seek justice for victims.”
Sixteen states have sued family members by name.
The Sacklers paid $75 million as part of a $270 million settlement with the state of Oklahoma earlier this year.
Opioid addiction has resulted in hundreds of thousands of American fatalities.