State Enforcement

February 10, 2015

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with the Illinois Attorney General and 41 other attorneys general, asked nine oil companies to collaborate with their franchisees to help eliminate synthetic drugs from retail locations operating under their brand names, including gas station and convenience stores. Included among the oil companies addressed in the multi-state request are: British Petroleum, Chevron Corporation, Citgo Petroleum Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Phillips 66, Shell Oil Company, Sunoco, and Valero Energy Corporation. According to the attorneys general, many of the well-known retail gas stations and convenience stores operating under these brands give the appearance of safety and legitimacy to dangerous synthetic products sold there. FL

February 9, 2015

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced a settlement of $105,000 with Massachusetts-based Integral Resources Inc. that allegedly solicited Ohioans for charitable donations while misleading consumers into thinking the calls were coming from a charity, versus a business. OH

February 9, 2015

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced felony charges against Khawaja Saud Masud for stealing over $1M from a retired pediatrician and his wife by fraudulently soliciting them to invest in his purported hedge fund RKS Capital, LP. NY

February 4, 2015

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane and the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced Medicaid fraud and other charges against Philadelphia-based Infinite Care Inc., sister company Infinite Care Special Needs Inc., and the companies’ vice president and treasurer. According to the Grand Jury, Infinite Care fraudulently billed Medicaid by more than $1M for services not rendered from January 2010 to the present, and after the company received a Grand Jury subpoena, it held a meeting where the decision was made to destroy the fraudulent paperwork submitted to the Commonwealth for services not provided and for inflated services. PA

February 3, 2015

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, along with the DOJ and the attorneys general of 18 states and the District of Columbia, announced a settlement with Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (S&P) and its parent company McGraw-Hill Financial Inc. to resolve federal and state civil claims related to S&P’s conduct in inflating ratings of residential mortgage-backed securities and structured investment vehicle notes. Combined with a separate settlement also announced today resolving a lawsuit filed by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), S&P will pay a total of $1.5B to federal and state government entities. The State of California will recover $210M in damages, from which CalPERS and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) will receive allocations for their losses on investments of certain S&P-rated securities. Separately, S&P will also pay CalPERS $125M to settle CalPERS’ specific lawsuit. The remainder of the total settlement proceeds will be distributed amongst the DOJ and the other nineteen attorneys general. CA

February 3, 2015

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a complaint against Ocean Hunters, Inc. and its owner Abdiel Falcon for violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by allegedly deceiving Florida consumers who purchased the company’s open water scuba diving certification courses. FL

February 2, 2015

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced his office obtained two separate judgments of nearly $800,000 against Emstar Pizza, a Papa John’s franchisee, and its owner and operator for underpaying employees. The violations include shaving workers’ pay by under-reporting hours and rounding down hours worked to the nearest whole hour increment (and paying nothing for fractions of hours), as well as nonpayment of overtime premiums—all in violation of New York State Labor Law. NY

January 30, 2015

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced Neighborhood Diabetes, Inc. will pay more than $1.5M to settle allegations it improperly billed and received payments from the state’s Medicaid program when it automatically refilled prescription medications that were not specifically requested by MassHealth patients or caregivers. The settlement is the second case in the Commonwealth to address a pharmacy’s operation of an improper automatic refill program with MassHealth members. In September 2013, AllCare Pharmacy agreed to pay $1.6M to settle similar allegations. MA

January 22, 2015

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced a settlement with northwest Ohio residents who allegedly used their charity, most recently known as Defining Vision Ministries Inc. and previously known as Focus Up Ministries, to solicit funds for an alleged international pyramid scheme called Profitable Sunrise.

January 22, 2015

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane announced the arrest of Claire Risoldi of Bucks County and four members of her family who allegedly conspired to defraud insurance companies in excess of $20M to live an “excessively extravagant lifestyle.” PA