This can get complicated and I have not looked into it in enough detail to know exactly what all of the issues are. Honestly, I'm not anxious to spend the many hours that would be required to sort out all of the issues.
Part of the problem (based on bits and pieces in news reports and my offhand recollection rather than in depth research) is that Jones ("AJ") has been stonewalling the courts so no one really knows exactly what is going on with his finances.
Your question seems to focus on friends and family as individuals, but most of the issues seem to involve legal entities such as trusts and other businesses that are not strictly speaking friends and family. Based on my recollection (which may not be 100%) of bits and pieces I've seen in the media, I believe that AJ and his existing company (hereinafter "The Sh*t Show" or "The SS") were joint defendants and they are jointly and severally liable.
My offhand recollection (which may not be 100%) is that AJ potentially transferred personal assets and assets from The SS to trusts and his other related businesses (hereinafter "Related Pieces of Sh*t" or "Related POS") in addition to family and friends. I'm not sure it makes sense to focus solely on friends and family, especially if his friends and family have ownership shares in the Related POS.
Big picture, it appears to me that his goal was to transfer assets out of his name and The SS into the Related POS, then declare bankruptcy (personal and The SS), discharge the judgements, dissolve The SS, and start a new company (hereinafter "New Sh*t Show" or "New SS") that would take the place of The SS free of the judgements. I suspect the strategy going forward would be to put profits from New SS into trusts and Related POS. Some of this is quite speculative on my part, especially with regards to potentially forming New SS, but it's hard to see what other strategy might be in play.
When we talk about "signed over" we need to decide what we mean by this? If AJ buys a new car for $100K then sells it to his dad a month later for $1K, did he "sign over" $99K to his dad? If The SS signs a contract to pay a Related POS $50 million per year for services that could probably be provided by an independent company for $5 million per year, did The SS or AJ "sign over" $45 million per year to friends and family?
In reality, these types of transactions are almost always disguised in some way in an effort to hide the true value of the transfer. There are a million ways to do it.
Based on a cursory review it appears to me that many of the issues in the bankruptcy case are in this general category. In other words, the court will need to decide if the assets were really just given away under the guise of it being a business transaction. My best guess is that the court will probably need to evaluate many thousands of transactions. I will not pretend to know the specifics of the transactions or the outcomes.
Another aspect of this is that during a bankruptcy the creditors split up the remaining assets and everyone typically gets a few pennies on the dollar. Simplifying greatly, it appears to me (based on an extremely cursory review of the situation which may be incorrect) that Related PS are claiming that they are owed vast sums by The SS and the plaintiffs will therefore need to share whatever pennies on the dollar there are with the Related POS as a way to dilute the amount received by the plaintiffs.
In other words, try to shrink the pie, then try to force the plaintiffs to share the slices that are left of the tiny pie.
The initial reports suggest it's not going in AJ's favor so far:
>>>Right-wing radio host Alex Jones helped remove profits from his bankrupt Infowars parent company [The SS] via a separate business he partially controlled [Related POS], a bankruptcy trustee has found.
Additionally, about $54 million of purportedly secured debt Infowars parent Free Speech Systems LLC [The SS] owes to Jones-affiliated PQPR Holdings Limited LLC [Related POS] isn’t legitimate and shouldn’t be first in line to be paid back under a bankruptcy plan, according to an initial
report released Tuesday from Subchapter V trustee Melissa Haselden.<<<
Right-wing radio host Alex Jones helped remove profits from his bankrupt Infowars parent company via a separate business he partially controlled, a bankruptcy trustee has found.
news.bloomberglaw.com
I suspect AJ will probably be on the losing end of many decisions by the bankruptcy court, but I really do not know (I'm not playing hide the ball, I really do not know). This is just a tiny initial skirmish in a long war of attrition. No human being on this planet can honestly state that they know exactly what is going to happen over the next 10-20 (or more) years as this is litigated relentlessly (there's a chance it could settle, but I have a hard time seeing it right now).
Realistically, the current assets of AJ and The SS are probably well below what the civil judgement, regardless of how the bankruptcy court rules on the various transactions. One of the major issues that is yet to be decided is if the civil judgements can be discharged in bankruptcy.
This could be an even bigger issue in the grand scheme of things.
As I read the law (based on a very quick scan) it appears to suggest that most exceptions to discharge for civil liability involve financial fraud or similar crimes. If my impression is correct, this seems to suggest that the damages owed to the Sandy Hook plaintiffs
are dischargeable (i.e. do not fall within an exception), and they'd only be able to collect pennies on the dollar with the other creditors as a result of the bankruptcy.
However, other lawyers with vastly more knowledge than me with regards to bankruptcy have indicated that the judgements
are likely to be non-dischargeable, in which case the amounts owed would survive the bankruptcy.
In this case, the plaintiffs could (in theory) end up collecting $ from AJ and/or the New SS. Of course, AJ could decide not to form the New SS (or just shut down The SS) in an effort to avoid paying the plaintiffs but I suspect that in the end his greed will win over his desire to stick it to the plaintiffs.
As I understand it, the plaintiffs have already filed a motion asking the judge to rule that the amounts are non-dischargeable. I really have no idea which way it will go.
