An audit found that the Sackler family reportedly took out over $10 billion from OxyContin producer Purdue Pharma in nine-year span and distributed the funds in trusts and overseas holding companies, The New York Times reports. According to the audit commissioned by the pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma made $10.7 billion in payments to the family between 2008 and 2017. The number is much higher than the $1.32 billion in payments it made to the family from 1995, when OxyContin was approved, to 2007. Auditors reportedly said they did not know how much of the money was used to pay taxes, and some of the money was reportedly deposited in trusts in well-known tax havens. The Sacklers reportedly voted to stop the practice of receiving cash payments in 2017, so Purdue Pharma ended the practice.
The Sacklers have offered to give at least $3 billion in cash as part of a settlement to the thousands of state and local lawsuits against Purdue for their alleged role in the opioid crisis. However, 24 states have refused to sign the agreement and said the Sacklers should be paying more. A lawyer to some of the Sackler family members claimed over half the $10.7 billion given to the family was paid in taxes and reinvested in businesses that would be sold off as part of the settlement. The family also reportedly said they would submit a report early next year about their finances to bankruptcy court, but that filing is expected to be confidential.
Read it at New York Times
