[Havoc]

Seems like an abuse of the limited liability. Does the US have a way to set that aside? I know other countries do

[YokoZar]

The US indeed has this concept, known as "piercing the corporate veil".

Excess payments to ownership (especially if you think the company is about to face a huge liability) is a classic example of one of the justifications for a judge to do just that: make the owners personally liable rather than just the company.

[Scoundreller]

The smart way is to pay yourself 10% dividends every year into your own holding companies from the start. Sounds like that’s what they did.

Don’t store your gold next to a nuclear reactor and all.

[bencollier49]

I think in the UK,a judge can rule that two companies constitute a 'group'. Prevents misuse of multiple companies for tax, etc.

[scardine]

In Brazil there is a concept called Business Entity Disregarding (Desconsideração da Personalidade Jurídica) that can get both ways: make partners liable for company debts or companies liable for partner debts. It can be triggered when the plaintiff engaged in some kind of asset hiding fraud or there are substantial confusion regarding company/personal assets.