alex jones
InfoWars founder Alex Jones speaks to the media outside Waterbury Superior Court in in Waterbury, Connecticut, during his trial on September 21, 2022.
  • Alex Jones owes families of Sandy Hook victims close to $1.5 billion.
  • Jones has been transferring his assets to family and friends, The New York Times reported.
  • The transfers appear to be a strategy to avoid paying the victims.

Alex Jones is transferring millions of dollars worth of his assets to friends and family — and even his personal trainer — in a move that appears designed to sidestep a court order requiring the radio host to pay huge sums to the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

Jones didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Sunday.

A Connecticut jury last year ordered the InfoWars host to pay close to $1 billion in damages to the families of those killed in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. A judge also ordered Jones to pay $473 million in punitive damages to the victims.

That means that altogether Jones owes close to $1.5 billion to the families.

For years after the shooting, Jones promoted a baseless conspiracy theory that the shooting, which caused the death of 20 first-graders and six adults, was a false-flag operation led by the Obama administration to rally public favor for stricter gun laws.

As a result, the families said they became targets of harassment by Jones' loyal fans.

The Times reported that Jones' company, Free Speech Systems, has already transferred tens of thousands of dollars to another company he owns with his parents. He's also transferred real estate holdings to family members, including a $3 million property to his wife, the New York Post reported last August.

And he's started new business partnerships with companies founded and owned by his friends, the Times reported.

This all comes after Jones and his company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year — another move the families believe Jones made to shield his wealth.

Jones is still broadcasting Infowars, and The Times reported his lawyers have said in court that business is "booming."

Read the original article on Business Insider