The exact details are complicated but the general idea is simple. Three different things tend to happen in setups like this.

First, one company can own multiple shell companies, it can borrow in one of the shell companies and funnel that to one of the other shell companies, and walk away with money after declaring bankruptcy.

Second, a company can take out a large loan and then pay some of the bosses, promising to pay back the loan knowing that they never will.

Third, a company can use multiple shell companies to create just the right tax setup such that most of those companies don’t have any taxable income even though combined they definitely would.