‘Nuclear Nomads’ of Pacific Sue Over Depleted Bomb Test Trusts

The Bikini people, who were moved in the 1940s to make way for nuclear weapon tests, sued Arden Trust Co. for gross mismanagement of two trusts set up to compensate them for multiple forced relocations.

The trusts plunged in value on Arden’s watch thanks to its “extravagant disbursements” of amounts far exceeding the maximum allowed under the agreements with the US government that created them, the lawsuit says. One of the funds declined from $59 million to $29 million during Arden’s five-year stewardship, while the other—which Arden still manages—fell from $60 million to just $89,000, according to the court filing ...