After Meili and his family reported receiving death threats, they fled to the United States and were granted political asylum via private bill. According to news reports, Meili and his family are believed to be the only Swiss nationals ever to receive political asylum in the United States. On 13 January 1998, lawyer Ed Fagan filed suit against UBS on behalf of the Jewish victims, in the amount of US$2,560,000,000. On 13 August 1998, a settlement was reached between the Swiss banks and the Jewish plaintiffs totaling US$1.25 billion. Fagan was disbarred in New York and New Jersey for failing to pay court fines and fees, and for stealing client money and escrow trust funds from Holocaust survivors. Later in 1998 the investigations of the justice of Zürich against Meili for allegedly breaking the laws on bank secrecy were cancelled, but Meili did not return to his homeland until 2003. His marriage ended in divorce in February 2002. In September 2003 he visited his family in Switzerland. In "Die Weltwoche", a Swiss newspaper, Meili criticized Fagan for having purportedly "instrumentalized" him and letting him down. He claimed to have never received the US $1 million that he was due according to their agreement after settling with the Swiss banks in 1998. However, according to a report by the Swiss magazine "Facts" (17 March 2005), Meili did receive US$750,000.