Curt Schilling and others agree to $2.5M 38 Studios settlement

Curt Schilling is part of the latest group to reach a settlement agreement surrounding his failed video game company which left the taxpayers of Rhode Island on the hook for tens of millions of dollars.

The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation has agreed to the $2.5 million settlement with Curt Schilling, Thomas Zaccagnino, Richard Wester, Jennifer MacLean, and their insurer, Starr Indemnity and Liability Company.

If approved the deal would bring total settlements so far to approximately $45 million which is a little more than half of the roughly $88 million state moral obligation on 38 Studios bonds for both past and future appropriations. 

"No one is going to be perfectly satisfied with this but I do think that the efforts that have been put forward so far by all of the parties to reach this monetary amount has been very good for the people of the state of Rhode Island,” said court mediator Francis Darigan Jr.

The Governor issuing this statement, “As I’ve said from the very beginning, 38 Studios was a bad deal for Rhode Islanders and I was against it from the start. My team and I remain focused on recovering as much taxpayer money as possible and we are preparing for trial with the remaining defendant.”

This is the 4th settlement  to be reached in the case.

In August Wells Fargo Securities and Barclays Capital agreed to pay more than $25 million. Prior to that there were two other settlements reached in 2014 and 2015 totaling $16.9 million.

"The case has indeed put a strain on the Commerce Corporation both from a resources stand point and from a time standpoint,” said Rhode Island Commerce Corporation COO and President Darin Early. “We are hopeful that we continue to receive as many taxpayer dollars back as possible."

First Southwest, who acted as the  financial adviser for 38 studios, is the only defendant who has not yet settled in the case. A spokeswoman tells us they remain focused on preparing for trial in October.

(C) WLNE 2016