EU Brings RICO and Tax Fraud Actions Against Tobacco in the US

On November 6, 2000, the European Commission announced it has brought an action against the two largest tobacco companies in the United States for alleged involvement in smuggling cigarettes into the European Union’s fifteen member states. The EU brought the action in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn on November 3. The case is the first time the EU has sought damages from U.S. companies through the U.S. court system. The EU seeks triple damages for tax losses related to smuggling that the EU estimates at as much as $1.7 billion annually...[more]