Federal authorities will not pursue criminal charges against Kingdoms of Amalur publisher 38 Studios over its handling of millions in loans before the company collapsed earlier this year.
Rhode Island's U.S. Attorney's office began conducting a review in June to see if 38 Studios' management had broken any federal laws, such as bank fraud, hoping to find out if the studio provided false information when seeking loans to keep the company afloat.
When 38 Studios missed the deadline for a loan payment to Rhode Island in May, the cash-strapped publisher was forced to lay off its entire staff of nearly 300 employees, declare bankruptcy, and close before it could complete the MMORPG project the team had worked on for several years, "Copernicus."
The company's bankruptcy filings revealed that 38 Studios owes $150.7 million for loans from banks and the state, while its subsidiary Big Huge Games owes over $121 million. Rhode Island's losses could total to over $100 million as a result of 38 Studio's collapse, including its $75 million loan to the publisher plus interest.
While a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney told the Associated Press that no further federal action is planned against 38 Studios, Rhode Island's State Police is still investigating to see if 38 Studios broke any state laws.
The government-owned Rhode Island Economic Development, which oversaw the loan arrangement that helped convince 38 Studios to move to the state from Massachusetts, has also hired a law firm to look into whether anyone can be held financially liable for the deal.
But it was never a federal issue now was it? Also if it is found that the due diligence by RH was non-existent, especially on the financial side, then can the taxpayers sue those involved?
Hooray? I suppose that's a nice thing, but it's not like any of us ex-employees will ever see a penny of the thousands of dollars we're each owed in back pay. At this point, every news article is just more salt in the wound.
Possibly, but most of us were more concerned with immediately looking for jobs, dealing with suddenly losing our insurance, dealing with the rebounding debts that came from all of this, and so forth.
And in terms of getting paid from the studio's remains, I know the employees are behind Rhode Island and a bank, so I doubt they'll leave so much as a penny for us. And anyone who would have the money to pay us all back also surely has the money to drown us in lawyers.
If you have a good case and win you should be rewarded some money for legal fees. If there's a good case for it it's at least worth talking to a lawyer about to see your options before dismissing it as too expensive.
sounds more like a case where the company followed the thin vail of rules applied for the loan, and the state doesn't want to reveal its' inadequacy to spend its' citizens money wisely.
And in terms of getting paid from the studio's remains, I know the employees are behind Rhode Island and a bank, so I doubt they'll leave so much as a penny for us. And anyone who would have the money to pay us all back also surely has the money to drown us in lawyers.