NY Attorney General: Sackler Family Hid $1B in Assets

Swiss bank accounts were used to manipulate funds, filing contends

Purdue Pharma
The headquarters of Purdue Pharma.
John9474/Creative Commons

The Sackler family, owners of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, have come under fire in recent years for profiting from the abundance of opioid addiction that has spread across the country. Now, the Attorney General of New York State has argued that the Sacklers used Swiss bank accounts to conceal the extent of their profits.

Adam Geller’s article on the subject lays out an array of information on the case. Particularly embroiled in the findings was Mortimer D.A. Sackler, the son of one of the founders of Purdue Pharma. Geller writes:

They point to $20 million shifted from a Purdue parent company to Sackler, who then redirected substantial amounts to shell companies that own family homes in Manhattan and the Hamptons. Another $64 million in transfers to Sackler came from a previously unknown family trust, using a Swiss account, prosecutors said in their filing.

This comes on the heels of news that Purdue Pharma had reached a tentative settlement in a series of lawsuits assailing the company for its role in getting thousands addicted to prescription painkillers.

Geller’s report notes that “New York and other states have promised they will continue to pursue the Sacklers, alleging that family members drained more than $4 billion from the company over the past dozen years.”

This latest filing is a sign that the heated debate over the Sackler family’s role in the opioid epidemic is far from over.

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