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WV Chemical Spill Company Paid $6 Million To Related Parties
By: Associated Press
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The company at the center of West Virginia's chemical spill paid about $6 million to executives and associated companies the year before its bankruptcy declaration.
Court documents show $1.1 million went to three former Freedom Industries owners. Two left Freedom after a Dec. 6 merger deal worth $15 million.
Bankruptcy law requires companies to detail a year's worth of insider payments, which can be retrieved to pay creditors if deemed inappropriate. Dozens of businesses are suing Freedom for lost profits during a water-use ban caused by the Jan. 9 spill. Freedom's bankruptcy temporarily froze the suits.
The insider payments include consulting, goods and services, expenses and distributions.
Freedom lawyers declined comment. The company returns to court Friday. Its creditors are studying the insider list and will meet Tuesday.