Lawsuit against Getty heirs lays bare claims of how the ultra-rich avoid paying ... trends now
A legal battle between heirs to the Getty family fortune and their former financial advisor could lay bare some of the favored methods of the ultra-wealthy to avoid tax obligations.
Marlena Sonn, the former financial planner for Kendalle P. Getty one of her sisters, Alexandra S. Getty, better known as Sarah, spoke out about the lawsuits in an interview with the New Yorker published on Monday.
Sonn, who specializes in 'impact investing' to advance progressive social causes, advised the Getty sisters for eight years, until the relationship imploded last year.
In a lawsuit filed last March, Sonn alleged she was fired in retaliation for her opposition to a 'dubious tax avoidance scheme' that could save the Gettys as much as $300 million in California state taxes.
Meanwhile, the Getty heirs filed a countersuit accusing Sonn of 'unjust enrichment' and claiming she 'coerced' them into doling out bonuses worth millions.
Marlena Sonn, the former financial planner for Kendalle P. Getty one of her sisters, Alexandra S. Getty, is engaged in cross-suits with the two wealthy heirs
Sonn advised Kendalle (above) for eight years. The artist is a self-described Democratic Socialist, but Sonn accuses her and her other advisors of a 'dubious tax avoidance scheme'
The explosive allegations in the legal battle could 'serve as a roadmap for California tax investigators, should they choose to follow the route,' wrote Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik last summer.
An attorney for the Getty sisters did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Tuesday afternoon.
Sonn's allegations center on Pleiades Trust, which Kendalle and Sarah's father Gordon Getty, the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, established for his three daughters born out of an extramarital affair.
Officially, the Pleiades Trust is based in a dingy office park known as Airport Gardens, a block away from the airport in Reno, Nevada.
In her lawsuit, Sonn alleges that the location was 'chosen for its proximity to the private jet terminal at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport so that its ultra-high net worth clients can easily fly in from high tax jurisdictions like California to conduct business from Nevada'.
Nevada has no individual state income tax, while California, which has long been the seat of the Getty clan, has income taxes ranging up to 13 percent. Sonn told the New Yorker: 'that's a lot of tax on billions of dollars.'
Officially, the Pleiades Trust is based in a dingy office park known as Airport Gardens (above), a block away from the airport in Reno,
