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For Immediate Release:
For Further Information:
April 12, 2012

Office of The Attorney General

- Jeffrey S. Chiesa, Attorney General
Division of Law
- Christopher S. Porrino, Directo

Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
- Ronald Chillemi, Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor

Media Inquiries-
Lee Moore
609-292-4791


Citizen Inquiries-

609-292-4925
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State’s Civil Enforcement Efforts Generated $150 Million in Settlements and Judgments
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  TRENTON – Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced today that the State obtained settlements and judgments totaling approximately $150 million in 2011 through its civil enforcement litigation efforts.

Settlements and judgments obtained by the State included $53 million from lawsuits related to alleged consumer, securities and other fraud, $42 million through environmental litigation and $20 million via lawsuits related to debt recovery.

The bulk of the State’s affirmative litigation is handled by attorneys with the Division of Law, which is responsible for providing legal counsel and representation to agencies of State government. In addition, attorneys assigned to the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor obtained more than $10 million in civil judgments in 2011 against those accused of fraud and abuse of public health care insurance benefits programs.

”Our civil enforcement attorneys continue to do an excellent job of upholding New Jersey’s laws and protecting the State’s assets,” said Attorney General Chiesa. “The judgments and settlements obtained through litigation last year are important, particularly during these challenging fiscal times. They also show that a consistently-high caliber of legal work is being done by dedicated public servants on behalf of New Jersey citizens.”

”Civil enforcement efforts are among the Division of Law’s top priorities,” said Division of Law Director Christopher Porrino.

“We will continue to pursue monetary and other relief,” Porrino said, “in cases where New Jerseyans have been defrauded or taken advantage of, the State's resources have been compromised, or government programs have been abused.”

In New Jersey, the Attorney General’s Office has a statutory duty to serve as both legal adviser to all “officers, departments, boards, bodies, commissions and instrumentalities” of State government, and to defend State laws. It is through the Division of Law that this aspect of the Attorney General’s mission is accomplished.

Among the judgments obtained by Division of Law attorneys in 2011 was a significant one against defendant Casey Properties of Montville in a civil mortgage fraud case. The Casey Properties matter involved a bogus mortgage and investment scam that encompassed approximately 70 properties and affected 35 consumers. Division lawyers obtained a combined $14.7 million judgment against the principal defendants.

Division lawyers also obtained a consent judgment for $1 million against Best Interest Rate Mortgage Company, a South Jersey mortgage loan modification business, and its three principals, to resolve civil charges the firm required up-front fees in violation of the Debt Adjustment and Credit Counseling Act, and falsely promised to help certain consumers modify their mortgages in violation of the Consumer Fraud Act.

Working on behalf of the Department of Banking and Insurance, Division attorneys prosecuted numerous civil insurance fraud cases in 2011 under the State’s Insurance Fraud Prevention Act, obtaining orders for fines, attorney’s fees and costs totaling more than $4.4 million.

Another significant Division of Law case in 2011 involved a settlement with three companies the State alleged were responsible for discharging chromium waste at more than 100 industrial sites in Hudson County. Under a consent order, the three companies must pay the State $15 million to fund past site remediation costs, and to complete work on contaminated sites that have not yet been remediated.

Civil Medicaid-fraud-related recoveries obtained by attorneys with the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor in 2011 included $3.46 million to the State as a result of New Jersey’s participation in a national settlement with a major pharmaceutical manufacturer.

The settlement, reached through the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units – of which New Jersey is a member -- resolved allegations that the pharmaceutical manufacturer engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices in manufacturing and distributing certain lots of drugs.

New Jersey also recovered $2.3 million in 2011 as a result of participation in a multi-state settlement with another major pharmaceutical corporation. The settlement resolved allegations that the company illegally marketed an anti-epilepsy drug for uses not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The settlement also resolved allegations that the company offered illegal kickbacks -- including speaking engagements with the attendant perks of entertainment, travel and meals -- to induce health care professionals to promote and prescribe its drugs for off-label uses.

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