HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A bank recently closed the accounts of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones media company, citing unauthorized transactions, a move that caused the business to panic when its balances suddenly dropped from more than $2 million to zero, according to a company lawyer.
Last week’s action by Axos Bank also exposed the concern and doubt of the company, Free Speech Systems, about the possibility of finding another bank to manage its money.
Jones, a conservative provocateur whose show Infowars promotes false theories about global conspiracies, UFOs and mind control, is seek bankruptcy protection like him and his company owes $1.5 billion to the relatives of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.
The debt is the result of families who won lawsuits against Jones for calling the massacre that killed 26 people and his supporters a hoax. threatening and harassing the victims’ families.
An attorney for Free Speech Systems, Ray Battaglia, told a federal bankruptcy judge in Houston on Tuesday that Axos Bank had closed the company’s accounts on Aug. 21 “without warning or notice.”
Battaglia said he and a court-appointed supervisor of Free Speech Systems’ finances were both out of the country when they received “frantic” messages about the company’s bank balances dropping to zero.
Bank officials, he said, did not provide much information.
According to Battaglia, Axos claimed it had contacted Free Speech Systems in July about a transaction and the company did not respond, which Battaglia disputed. The bank also indicated there were unauthorized transactions, but did not go into details, he said. He said the bank informed Jones’ company that it would send a cashier’s check for the full balance.
“So we’re perplexed,” Battaglia told the bankruptcy judge. “We have no answers for the court. They (the bank) have not provided us with any.”
Battaglia said the media company will have to find another bank or take Axos to court “because we don’t know who’s going to bank us.” At the request of Jones’ lawyers, Axos agreed to reopen the company’s accounts for 30 days, but it appears it will not extend the relationship beyond that, he said.
Axos spokespeople did not return e-mails seeking comment Wednesday. An email sent to Infowars also went unanswered, as did previous messages.
Jones and Free Speech Systems make most of their money by selling nutritional supplements, survival gear, books, clothing and other merchandise, which Jones publishes on his daily radio and web show.
According to the company’s most recent financial statement filed in bankruptcy court, it had more than $2.5 million in its Axos accounts at the end of August after generating more than $3 million in revenue during the month The company paid more than $2 million in expenses and other costs, leaving a net cash flow of $1 million.
Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez will decide how much money Jones and Free Speech Systems must pay creditors, including the Sandy Hook families. Jones is appealing the court awards, citing free speech rights and the judges’ errors.
In 2018, social media companies including Facebook, YouTube and Apple banned Jones from their platforms. It’s unclear whether Jones’ views have anything to do with Axos Bank’s stock.
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