MINNESOTA
Daily Mail (UK)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Attorneys on Tuesday accused a Minnesota archdiocese of sheltering more than $1 billion in assets to avoid big payouts to abuse survivors as part of the church’s bankruptcy case.
They say the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has some $1.7 billion in assets — far more than the $49 million it lists in a filing this week. In court papers, they accuse the archdiocese of vastly undervaluing assets such as the St. Paul Cathedral and tucking money away in other corporations to shield it from creditors.
Jeff Anderson, an attorney for hundreds of people claiming sexual abuse by priests, said the church had schemed to defraud creditors and deny fair resolution of claims.
“They are underrepresenting their ability to pay by about 99 percent,” Anderson said. “It has been a scheme and a scam that has served them in the past.”
The archdiocese said it was preparing a statement.
The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January 2015 as it faced an onslaught of new abuse claims after Minnesota lawmakers opened a three-year window for claims that had previously been barred by the statute of limitations. That opening closes Wednesday. The archdiocese is scheduled to file its reorganization plan with the court by the end of the month.
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