The families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims voted overwhelmingly in favor of a plan to wrap up Alex Jones’ bankruptcy proceedings by liquidating the right wing talk show host’s assets.

  • randomaside@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 months ago

    This is Great… Unfortunately this is too little too late …

    He’s already moved out every asset he owns from under his control to other sources. They’ve given this man too much time to make himself appear “Virtually” as pauper on paper. He’ll go to prison before he ever gives them a cent.

      • Billiam@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Forensic auditors are scary. However, given the caliber of people Alex Jones surrounds himself with, I have a sneaking suspicion it wouldn’t be particularly difficult to untangle his finances (relatively speaking).

      • residentmarchant@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Even if they can trace it, can they take it? Let’s say he puts his house in a trust and makes some family members the owner of the trust, that would no longer be his property, no?

        • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          This article has the best breakdown I’ve ever read in a single source, but, from what I understand as a non-expert or even expert-adjacent, it doesn’t work that way.

          If you put things in a living trust and name others as the beneficiary and then file for bankruptcy, you still own those trusts. So they take the assets.

          If you put your assets in an irrevocable trust around the time that you file for bankruptcy and the recipient gives you something in return, the courts take the something you got in return. If you get nothing in return, then the auditors say “this smells like bullshit” and then the courts go, “yup, that’s definitely a coverup,” and then they reverse the trust and give you an extra punishment. If you’d established that trust well before filing for bankruptcy, then you didn’t have the money anyway, so nothing to take. But if the person who owns the trust is using the trust to financially support you, then the court will yoink the money before you spend it or they’ll spank you after you’ve spent it.

        • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          If he puts it in a Swiss bank or caiman islands then they won’t release it for seizure or even admit it’s there. Everyone will know and he would likely be jailed for hiding it but once he got out it would be there still

    • Olhonestjim@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Yeah, that’s not as hopeless as you think. They can easily track what he did to obviously hide his assets in the time since the judgement and still seize them from the parties who now could face charges for accepting them.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Can the court do something to punish him if it looks like he’s living in luxury despite not owning any assets?