Fabrikant Litigation Being Settled

You may remember a while back the Fortgang family was sued by the M. Fabrikant and Sons “shared asset trust,” in a case alleging over $100 million in “improper” transfers to affiliated companies. The Fortgang family, in the words of the court papers, “hotly contested” those allegations, and now the case is in the process of being settled, for substantially less than was originally asked for.

According to court papers, the settlement, which still has to be approved by the court, calls for:

-         The Fortgangs and affiliated parties to make a cash payment of $8.05 million to the shared asset trust.

-         Any amounts in the Fortgang’s $5.5 million insurance policy with the FDIC will be paid to the Shared Asset Trust.

-         Each defendant with claims against GUC Trust and/or De Beers will assign those claims to the Shared Asset Trust. (This appears to be related to the De Beers anti-trust suit.)