Alex Jones-bankruptcy scam- Right-wing conspiracy outlet Infowars moves to exit bankruptcy
Jones is being sued in both Connecticut and Texas by the families of Sandy Hook victims for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In both sets of lawsuits, Jones refused to comply with discovery orders and the courts in both sets of cases impose death penalty sanctions finding that Jones and his companies were liable for damages. Trials were proceeding in both sets of cases when Jones tried to commit bankruptcy fraud by putting three shell entities into bankruptcy to attempt to use a new provision of the bankruptcy code (subchapter 5 of Chapter 11) to force the plaintiffs to accept small amounts and release jones. Subchapter 5 is new and provides for no creditors' committee and gives the debtor the right to control the case to a greater degree than in a regular chapter 11 case. This was an attempt to abuse the bankruptcy system and the US Trustee and the Plaintiffs each filed motions seeking to dismiss the bankruptcy case.
Subchapter 5 is for small bankruptcies and the main entities with assets were not part of the filing. The Plaintiffs in effect got out of the bankruptcy by releasing the three shells. This allowed both sets of plaintiffs to proceed against Jones and his main companies which defeated the purpose of this scam.
Now that the sole purpose of the scam has been defeated, Jones is now dismissing the bankruptcies and the Plaintiffs are seeking attorney's fees and damages due to Jones' attempt at bankruptcy fraud
Juanita Jean's son, Mark Bankston, is the lead attorney for the Texas plaintiffs. I have had fun listening to hearings in bankruptcy court other than this last herring
Link to tweet
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/02/media/infowars-sandy-hook-alex-jones/index.html
In a widely decried move, Infowars, Prison Planet, and Infowars Health sought bankruptcy protection after Jones was found legally responsible for damages in three defamation lawsuits related to false claims he made about the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting.....
Mark Bankston, an attorney representing the parents of two Sandy Hook children in a Texas lawsuit said "it's hardly a surprise that Mr. Jones abandoned his ridiculous stunt, and we expect Mr. Jones and his attorneys will be fined for this fraudulent and dishonest bankruptcy."
"Fortunately, Mr. Jones' bad faith scheme evaporated almost immediately, and we are now back on track for Mr. Jones to face a jury of his peers in late July," Bankston said in a statement.
Jones baselessly said in the aftermath of the shooting, in which 26 people were killed, that the incident was staged. Facing lawsuits, Jones has since acknowledged the shooting occurred. He said in a 2019 sworn deposition that a "form of psychosis" caused him at the time to believe it was staged.
The first trial on damages in the Texas cases will be in July and the trial for the Connecticut cases will be in September.
I am amused that with the failure of this stunt, I saw that the Jones attorneys are now attacking each other https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216779194
This will be fun to watch.