[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.