To me, the biggest red flag is that an associate of Jones is claiming that they should be the winner of the auction. That sounds to me like a conflict of interest in the sale of seized property, if in effect it likely would end up remaining in control of its original owner.
You shouldn’t get to sell your ill-gotten gains to a close friend who’s “totally not going to let you keep them, trust me bro”.
If your assets are being seized, it’s (normally) because you are unable to pay whatever judgement was levied against you with cash. If your fairy godfather magically appears and puts up the money necessary so your assets won’t be seized, the judge isn’t going to care. All his job is is to ensure the plaintiffs are made as whole as possible. He will (generally) not care how your debt is paid or by whom. If the debt is paid, the debt is paid and you get to keep your stuff.
Heck, Elon musk could have swooped in himself, offered to buy infowars for 1.5 billion (which, let’s be real, wouldn’t even count as a rounding error to Musk) to satisfy the entire Sandy Hook judgement with the plans of just handing the whole thing right back to Jones for $1. And the families wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. As far as the courts are concerned, the families were made whole. The families don’t really get to decide how they are made whole.
It might sound like that, but the US keeps proving over and over again that its justice system is impotent against those with money, and downright cruel to those without.
To me, the biggest red flag is that an associate of Jones is claiming that they should be the winner of the auction. That sounds to me like a conflict of interest in the sale of seized property, if in effect it likely would end up remaining in control of its original owner.
You shouldn’t get to sell your ill-gotten gains to a close friend who’s “totally not going to let you keep them, trust me bro”.
This isn’t the case.
If your assets are being seized, it’s (normally) because you are unable to pay whatever judgement was levied against you with cash. If your fairy godfather magically appears and puts up the money necessary so your assets won’t be seized, the judge isn’t going to care. All his job is is to ensure the plaintiffs are made as whole as possible. He will (generally) not care how your debt is paid or by whom. If the debt is paid, the debt is paid and you get to keep your stuff.
Heck, Elon musk could have swooped in himself, offered to buy infowars for 1.5 billion (which, let’s be real, wouldn’t even count as a rounding error to Musk) to satisfy the entire Sandy Hook judgement with the plans of just handing the whole thing right back to Jones for $1. And the families wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. As far as the courts are concerned, the families were made whole. The families don’t really get to decide how they are made whole.
It might sound like that, but the US keeps proving over and over again that its justice system is impotent against those with money, and downright cruel to those without.
It’s a fine, not stolen goods. If they can pay it, it’s hunky dory. It’s not a conflict of interest, it’s the exact opposite.