Boise, Idaho-based St. Luke's Health System has filed a new lawsuit as it seeks to get the money a court ordered Ammon Bundy to pay in a lawsuit alleging harassment and intimidation against St. Luke's and its workers.
In July, an Idaho jury ordered Mr. Bundy, Diego Rodriguez, the People's Rights Network, Freedom Man Press and the Bundy campaign for governor to pay $52.5 million to St. Luke's and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The jury found the defendants liable for defamation, among other claims, the legal counsel for St. Luke's said at the time. It ordered defendants to pay $26 million in punitive damages and $26.5 million in compensatory damages. Mr. Bundy — founder of far-right group the People's Rights Network — was ordered to pay the plaintiffs $6.2 million in compensatory damages and $6.15 million in punitive damages, and Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Bundy's associate, was ordered to pay $7 million in compensatory damages and $6.5 million in punitive damages.
The new lawsuit, filed Aug. 11 in Gem County and shared with Becker's, accuses Mr. Bundy of transferring and hiding assets or directing others to transfer and hide assets of the Bundy campaign and the People's Rights Network to hinder or frustrate efforts by the St. Luke's parties to collect damages. It also accuses Mr. Bundy of diverting, hiding and concealing donations of cash and/or cryptocurrency intended for People's Rights Network to benefit himself and others.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs specifically reference Mr. Bundy's property in Emmett, Idaho. They allege Mr. Bundy entered into a scheme to hurt the plaintiffs' ability to recover against the property, which included engaging longtime friend Aaron Welling "to engage in a sham transaction to transfer title of the [Emmett] property to White Barn, which is, in turn, owned by a limited liability company of which Welling and his spouse are the sole owners."
The lawsuit alleges Mr. Bundy and his wife transferred title of the property to White Barn, and White Barn sent the Bundys $250,000, less than one-quarter of the property's market value. It alleges that Mr. Bundy then used the $250,000 from White Barn to pay off all debt he owed on the property; White Barn took out a promissory note for $250,000 with a bank against the property; and that White Barn entered a lease with Mr. Bundy's wife for a five-year term with a monthly payment of $2,620.
Mr. Bundy shared the following statement with NBC affiliate KTVB on Aug. 11:
"Last fall St. Luke’s executives through their attorneys, Holland & Hart, put a lien on my home to pay for attorney fees. I paid off the lien and fees so I could legally sell my home. Now that my home is sold they are upset that they have to pay Holland & Hart rather than taking my home to pay the exorbitant attorney fees. St. Luke's CEO, Chris Roth, hired very expensive attorneys and expected to put my family on the streets to pay for them. I am only a renter now so I suppose in a way he got his wish. I ask St. Luke's executive to let me live in peace! Please stop coming after me! I told the truth and it made you look bad, get over it!"
The Idaho jury's decision is a result of a lawsuit filed in May 2022 related to a protest over an infant's care that prompted a hospital lockdown. The lawsuit alleges Mr. Bundy and his supporters threatened hospital workers and disrupted health services while protesting the hospitalization of the infant grandson of Mr. Rodriguez.
For more background about the original lawsuit, click here.