NEW YORK -- The family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma used Swiss and other hidden accounts to transfer $1 billion to themselves, New York's attorney general contends in court papers filed Friday.
New York -- asking a judge to enforce subpoenas of companies, banks and advisers to Purdue and its owners, the Sackler family -- said it has uncovered the previously unknown wire transfers among family members, entities they control and several financial institutions.
The transfers bolster allegations by New York and other states that the Sacklers worked to shield their wealth in recent years because of mounting worries about legal threats.
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.
The family has used a complex chain of companies and trusts to control their holdings, some located in offshore tax havens.
The Sacklers had an estimated net worth of $13 billion as of 2016, making them America's 19th-richest family, according to Forbes magazine. »
