Our Top Stories
Justice Department Requires Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. to Make Significant Changes to Its Merger with Live Nation Inc.
Mon, Jan 25th, 2010
Software Licensing Agreement, Divestiture and Anti-Retaliation Provisions Will Preserve Competition in Ticketing in the United States
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice will require Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. to license its ticketing software, divest ticketing assets and subject itself to anti-retaliation provisions in order to proceed with its proposed merger with Live Nation Inc. The department said that the proposed settlement will protect competition for primary ticketing, which will in turn maintain incentives for innovation and discounting. The department said that the merger, as originally proposed, would have substantially lessened competition for primary ticketing in the United States, resulting in higher prices and less innovation for consumers.
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, along with 17 state attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to block the proposed transaction. ....more
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice will require Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. to license its ticketing software, divest ticketing assets and subject itself to anti-retaliation provisions in order to proceed with its proposed merger with Live Nation Inc. The department said that the proposed settlement will protect competition for primary ticketing, which will in turn maintain incentives for innovation and discounting. The department said that the merger, as originally proposed, would have substantially lessened competition for primary ticketing in the United States, resulting in higher prices and less innovation for consumers.
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, along with 17 state attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to block the proposed transaction. ....more
Westar Energy to Spend Approximately $500 Million to Settle Clean Air Act Violations
Mon, Jan 25th, 2010
Emissions to Be Cut by More Than 75,000 Tons Annually
WASHINGTON—Westar Energy has agreed to spend approximately $500 million to significantly reduce harmful air pollution from a Kansas power plant and pay a $3 million civil penalty, under a settlement to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act. As part of the settlement, Westar will also spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects.
The agreement, filed in federal court in Kansas, resolves violations of the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements at the company’s Jeffrey Energy Center, a coal-fired power plant near St. Marys, Kansas.
Under the settlement, Westar will install and operate pollution control equipment at the Jeffrey Energy Center that is expected to reduce combined emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by roughly 78,600 tons per year, which is 85 percent below 2007 emissions. ....more
WASHINGTON—Westar Energy has agreed to spend approximately $500 million to significantly reduce harmful air pollution from a Kansas power plant and pay a $3 million civil penalty, under a settlement to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act. As part of the settlement, Westar will also spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects.
The agreement, filed in federal court in Kansas, resolves violations of the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review requirements at the company’s Jeffrey Energy Center, a coal-fired power plant near St. Marys, Kansas.
Under the settlement, Westar will install and operate pollution control equipment at the Jeffrey Energy Center that is expected to reduce combined emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by roughly 78,600 tons per year, which is 85 percent below 2007 emissions. ....more
FBI Joins Search for Cary Woman
Mon, Jan 25th, 2010
The FBI is joining local authorities in the search for a Cary, Illinois woman charged with abducting her two children, according to Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Sonia Del Carmen Leon De Carol, age 43, is wanted in McHenry County for the June 2009 abduction of her two minor children, Andrea, age 6 and James, age 5. CARMEN LEON DE CAROL was charged in McHenry County with two counts of Child Abduction after it was determined that she took the children to Mexico City for a court approved visit, but failed to return the children to their father, as scheduled.
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Sonia Del Carmen Leon De Carol, age 43, is wanted in McHenry County for the June 2009 abduction of her two minor children, Andrea, age 6 and James, age 5. CARMEN LEON DE CAROL was charged in McHenry County with two counts of Child Abduction after it was determined that she took the children to Mexico City for a court approved visit, but failed to return the children to their father, as scheduled.
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Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Dean Foods Company
Fri, Jan 22nd, 2010
Lawsuit Seeks to Restore Lost Competition in Sale of Milk to School Districts and Retailers in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today against Dean Foods Company challenging its April 2009 acquisition of Foremost Farms USA’s Consumer Products Division. The department said that the merger eliminates substantial competition between the two companies in the sale of milk to schools, grocery stores, convenience stores and other retailers in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, along with state attorneys general from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, seeking to require Dean Foods to sell the dairy processing plants it acquired from Foremost Farms.
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WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit today against Dean Foods Company challenging its April 2009 acquisition of Foremost Farms USA’s Consumer Products Division. The department said that the merger eliminates substantial competition between the two companies in the sale of milk to schools, grocery stores, convenience stores and other retailers in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, along with state attorneys general from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee, seeking to require Dean Foods to sell the dairy processing plants it acquired from Foremost Farms.
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Former Houston Business Owners Sentenced to Lengthy Prison Terms
Fri, Jan 22nd, 2010
Fraudulently Billing Medicare and Medicaid for $36 Million
HOUSTON—The owners of several Houston area durable medical equipment (DME) companies convicted by a jury in April 2009 of conspiracy to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, health care fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering have been sentenced to long prison terms.
Rhonda Fleming, 44, and Rose Ebhamen, 45, were sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Gray Miller. Judge Miller sentenced Fleming to 30 years in federal prison without parole and ordered her to pay $6.29 million in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid. Ebhamen was sentenced to 135 months and ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid. Both defendants left the courtroom in the custody of Deputy U.S. Marshals to begin serving their sentences.
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HOUSTON—The owners of several Houston area durable medical equipment (DME) companies convicted by a jury in April 2009 of conspiracy to defraud Medicare and Medicaid, health care fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering have been sentenced to long prison terms.
Rhonda Fleming, 44, and Rose Ebhamen, 45, were sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Gray Miller. Judge Miller sentenced Fleming to 30 years in federal prison without parole and ordered her to pay $6.29 million in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid. Ebhamen was sentenced to 135 months and ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution to Medicare and Medicaid. Both defendants left the courtroom in the custody of Deputy U.S. Marshals to begin serving their sentences.
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Smithfield Foods Inc., and Premium Standard Farms LLC Charged with Illegal Premerger Coordination
Thu, Jan 21st, 2010
Companies Required to Pay $900,000 Civil Penalty
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has reached a settlement with Smithfield Foods Inc. and Premium Standard Farms LLC that requires the companies to pay a total of $900,000 in civil penalties for violating premerger waiting period requirements.
The Department's Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, along with the proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, after Smithfield and Premium Standard announced their proposed merger in September 2006, ....more
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has reached a settlement with Smithfield Foods Inc. and Premium Standard Farms LLC that requires the companies to pay a total of $900,000 in civil penalties for violating premerger waiting period requirements.
The Department's Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, along with the proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, after Smithfield and Premium Standard announced their proposed merger in September 2006, ....more
Southern California Pipeline Firm to Pay $1.3 Million to Resolve Pyramid Lake Oil Discharges
Wed, Jan 20th, 2010
Pacific Pipeline Systems Will Also Discontinue Use of 70 Miles of Pipeline
WASHINGTON—Pacific Pipeline Systems LLP, a Long Beach, California-based oil transport company, has agreed to pay a $1.3 million civil penalty and discontinue the use of a section of pipeline through an unstable section of mountains to resolve a Clean Water Act violation.
The agreement resolves a complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles for the discharge of crude oil into Pyramid Lake, located about 60 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. In March 2005, a landslide caused a portion of Pacific Pipeline Systems’ Line 63, an underground pipeline that runs from Bakersfield, California, to Los Angeles to fail.
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WASHINGTON—Pacific Pipeline Systems LLP, a Long Beach, California-based oil transport company, has agreed to pay a $1.3 million civil penalty and discontinue the use of a section of pipeline through an unstable section of mountains to resolve a Clean Water Act violation.
The agreement resolves a complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles for the discharge of crude oil into Pyramid Lake, located about 60 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. In March 2005, a landslide caused a portion of Pacific Pipeline Systems’ Line 63, an underground pipeline that runs from Bakersfield, California, to Los Angeles to fail.
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U.S. Files Suit Against Johnson & Johnson for Paying Kickbacks to Nation's Largest Nursing Home Pharmacy
Fri, Jan 15th, 2010
WASHINGTON—The United States has filed a civil False Claims Act complaint against drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (J&J) of New Brunswick, N.J., and two of its subsidiaries, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. The complaint alleges that these companies paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Omnicare Inc., the nation’s largest pharmacy that specializes in dispensing drugs to nursing home patients. In November 2009, the United States, numerous states, and Omnicare entered into a $98 million settlement agreement that, among other things, resolved Omnicare’s civil liability under the False Claims Act for taking kickbacks from J&J.
In its complaint against J&J, the United States alleges that the company paid kickbacks to Omnicare to induce the nursing home pharmacy company to purchase and recommend J&J drugs, including the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal, for use in nursing homes. According to the complaint, J&J understood that Omnicare’s pharmacists reviewed nursing home patients’ charts at least monthly and made recommendations to physicians on what drugs should be prescribed for those patients. The government further alleges that J&J knew that physicians accepted the Omnicare pharmacists’ recommendations more than 80 percent of the time, and that J&J viewed such pharmacists as an “extension of [J&J’s] sales force.”
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In its complaint against J&J, the United States alleges that the company paid kickbacks to Omnicare to induce the nursing home pharmacy company to purchase and recommend J&J drugs, including the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal, for use in nursing homes. According to the complaint, J&J understood that Omnicare’s pharmacists reviewed nursing home patients’ charts at least monthly and made recommendations to physicians on what drugs should be prescribed for those patients. The government further alleges that J&J knew that physicians accepted the Omnicare pharmacists’ recommendations more than 80 percent of the time, and that J&J viewed such pharmacists as an “extension of [J&J’s] sales force.”
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