Gabriella Olivieri Publications Portfolio Annual Report - 2011 | Page 12

LEG A L DIVISIONS “Smoking Out” Illegal Cigarette Ventures Division attorneys entered into a court-ordered consent decree closing down tobacco shop Island Smokes after the City sued it for evading cigarette taxes through a “roll-yourown” cigarette business. The Division also ?led a federal lawsuit against a Kentuckycentered ring of individuals and companies that operated over the Internet as signi?cant sources of bootlegged cigarettes in New York City, in violation of federal cigarette traf?cking and racketeering statutes. PHOTO: TIMES SQUARE Settling an Illegal Billboard Case for $3 Million The City reached a $3 million settlement with private company Lamar Advertising in December 2011 over penalties the company had incurred for operating illegal billboards. Under the settlement, Lamar paid $3 million and agreed to remove over 1,000 illegal signs, many in residential areas. The company also agreed to remove the structures used to support the signs to prevent others from illegally posting signs and avoid potential problems with graf?ti and vandalism. This case is part of a larger effort to enhance public safety and quality of life and collect penalties imposed on those who break City codes and rules. AFFIRMATIVE LITIGATION CHIEF Gail Rubin DEPUTY Eric Proshansky The Affirmative Litigation Division represents the City as plaintiff on a wide range of issues, including civil racketeering, fraud, nuisance, restitution, antitrust, products liability, breach of contract, insurance, and State and federal funding for government programs. The Division protects the City’s interests and advances the City’s agenda by commencing claims and recovering monies owed to the City. 9 Shutting Down Out-of-State Gun Dealers Who Sought to Avoid an Injunction The City prevailed on an appeal by two out-of-state gun dealers seeking to avoid an injunction requiring that their sales be monitored by a court-appointed Special Master. The City’s lawsuit against 27 outof-state gun dealers to curb the traf?cking of illegal guns into the City—many of which ended up in the hands of criminals—was largely resolved through settlements. These two dealers defaulted and then challenged the court-imposed injunction. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals af?rmed the default judgments against the dealers, determined that an injunction can be imposed upon them, and remanded the case to the District Court to “?ne-tune” the terms of the injunction. Holding Banks Accountable for Foreign Currency Exchange Transfers New York City joined the New York State Attorney General in bringing claims against the Bank of New York Mellon for improper foreign currency exchange transactions that impacted the City’s pension funds. Over a 10-year period, the bank consistently gave the worst or nearly the worst interbank rates of the trading day to its customers. The bank made nearly $2 billion from these trades over that period, and the City pension funds lost tens of millions of dollars. PR ACTICE SPOTLIGHT Recovering Money from Pharmaceutical Companies after Medicaid Fraud The City has netted over $45 million thus far in settlements with defendants in a litigation involving Medicaid fraud by virtually all the major pharmaceutical companies. In August 2004, the Division—together with outside counsel—?led a federal action against 44 pharmaceutical companies alleging that these companies reported grossly in?ated average wholesale prices and other prices of their drugs. Because Medicaid reimburses based on average wholesale price, a higher average wholesale price gives the retailer an incentive to purchase that company’s drug over others. This fraud resulted in the City, State, and federal governments grossly overpaying for drugs. 10 (0