Rite Aid indictments
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Leiner Health Products, Warner Lambert Consumer Healthcare (now part of Pfizer) among vendors defrauded in wide-ranging scheme by former and current Rite Aid executives to materially overstate the drug store chain's income between May 1997 and May 1999, federal prosecutors allege in recent indictments against the executives. Vendors were subject to "systematically inflated" charges for damaged, outdated merchandise (totaling $28 mil. in FY 1999) and/or "bogus" charges for items purportedly sold at clearance ($30 mil. in 1999). Indictment cites February 1999 invoices to Warner Lambert for $539,000 and Leiner for $508,000 as evidence of fraud conspiracy and mail fraud. Justice Department criminal charges and SEC accounting fraud charges against Rite Aid were filed June 21 in Harrisburg, Penn. federal court...
You may also be interested in...
Rite Aid fraud case
Jury in Pennsylvania federal court convicts former Rite Aid Chief Counsel Franklin Brown of 10 counts including "conspiracy, false statements to the SEC, obstruction of justice, obstruction of SEC proceedings and witness tampering," U.S. Attorney announces Oct. 17. Indictments filed by Justice Department, Securities & Exchange Commission in 2002 charged Brown with conspiracy to overstate the firm's income and inflate charges to vendors (1"The Tan Sheet" July 8, 2002, In Brief). Conviction follows plea agreements from five other Rite Aid execs (2"The Tan Sheet" June 30, 2003, In Brief). Brown faces up to 65 years imprisonment and $2.5 mil. in fines. Sentencing has not been set...
Rite Aid ex-execs
Former VP Eric Sorkin pleads guilty June 26 in Harrisburg, Penn. federal court to single charge of conspiracy. He faces maximum five-year prison sentence and fine of up to $250,000. Franklin Brown, drugstore chain's former chief counsel, granted postponement until July 14 to decide whether he will plead guilty or go to trial. Actions follow ex-Rite Aid CEO Martin Grass' guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of conspiracy to defraud Rite Aid and its shareholders June 17. The 49-year old exec faces more than $3.5 mil. in monetary penalties, eight-year prison sentence under plea agreement. Grass and Sorkin could testify against Brown. Justice Department filed criminal charges, SEC filed account fraud charges against Rite Aid last June (1"The Tan Sheet" July 8, 2002, In Brief)...
US Q1 Consumer Health Earnings Preview: Label This One Historic And Challenging But Promising
US OTC drug and supplement firms’ reports of results for the first three months of 2024 began on April 19 with P&G. JP Morgan analysts say while “some retailers in the US in particular” are reducing consumer health inventories, for the overall sector they expect “a healthier balance of positive volume and lower pricing contribution.”