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NYC sues roll-your-own cigarette shops over taxes
Headline Legal News |
2011/11/21 09:32
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There is no place in the U.S. more expensive to smoke than New York City, where the taxes alone will set you back $5.85 per pack. Yet, addicts who visit Island Smokes, a roll-your-own cigarette shop in Chinatown, can walk out with an entire 10-pack carton for under $40, thanks to a yawning tax loophole that officials in several states are now trying to close.
The store is one of a growing number around the country that have come under fire over their use of high-speed cigarette rolling machines that function as miniature factories, and can package loose tobacco and rolling papers into neatly formed cigarettes, sometimes in just a few minutes.
The secret to Island's low prices is simple: Even though patrons leave carrying cartons that look very much like the Marlboros or Newports, the store charges taxes at the rate set for loose tobacco, which is just a fraction of what is charged for a commercially made pack.
Customers select a blend of tobacco leaves, intended to mirror the flavor of their regular brand. Then they feed the tobacco and some paper tubes into the machines, and return to the counter with the finished product to ring up the purchase.
The savings come at every level. Many stores sell customers loose pipe tobacco, which is taxed by the federal government at $2.80 per pound, compared with $25 per pound for tobacco made for cigarettes. The shops don't pay into the cigarette manufacturer trust fund, intended to reimburse government health programs for the cost of treating smoking-related illness. And the packs produced by roll-your-own shops are generally also being sold without local tax stamps, which in New York include a $1.50 city tax and a $4.35 state tax.
New York City's legal department filed a lawsuit against Island Smokes on Nov. 14, arguing that the company's Manhattan store and another on Staten Island are engaging in blatant tax evasion. |
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RI pension overhaul may head to the courts
Topics in Legal News |
2011/11/18 09:07
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Rhode Island is taking dramatic steps toward fixing one of the nation's most underfunded public pension systems, but the true battle with public-sector unions may be just beginning.
State lawmakers ignored jeers from public workers and the threat of a lawsuit Thursday to pass sweeping changes to the pension system covering 66,000 active and retired public workers.
The legislation is designed to save billions of dollars in future years by backing away from promises to state and municipal workers that lawmakers say the state can no longer afford. Gov. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, said he will sign the bill.
Public-sector union leaders promised a court challenge before the final votes were even cast.
The attorneys are going to make a lot of money, Philip Keefe, president of Local 580, which represents social service, administrative and technical workers. If this is overturned, it will be you, me and every other taxpayer that is on the hook for billions.
Supporters acknowledged that a lawsuit was inevitable but said the bill was thoroughly reviewed for any legal problems. Supporters said one of the reasons for the bill was to ensure there's money available when today's workers retire. |
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Fla. hired law firm with ties to Gov. Scott
Lawyer Media News |
2011/11/18 09:06
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Florida has spent nearly a half-million dollars - and could spend even more - with a large, well-known law firm that has connections to both the Republican Party of Florida as well as Gov. Rick Scott.
Since August the state has paid nearly $400,000 to the law firm of Alston and Bird to defend a new state law that requires public employees to contribute 3 percent of their pay to the state pension fund.
The firm was hired at the urging of the Scott administration which asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to approve paying the firm hourly rates at $495 an hour or nearly $300 more than what is normally allowed.
The Scott administration and Bondi have defended the hiring of the firm, saying it specializes in the kind of litigation that the state is now involved in.
But the firm's roster also includes a one-time business associate of Scott.
While not working directly on the lawsuit, a senior counsel with the firm's Washington D.C. office is Thomas Scully. Scully is also a general partner with the New York investment firm of Welsh, Carson, Anderson amp; Stowe. That's the investment firm that this June purchased Scott's shares in Solantic, a chain of urgent care clinics the governor started back in 2001.
Scully, who once led the Federation of American Hospitals, was appointed to the board of directors of Solantic back in 2008. |
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Conn. teeth-whitening rules challenged in court
Legal News |
2011/11/17 09:49
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Connecticut's rules that only a dentist can provide certain teeth-whitening services are being challenged in court.
The Institute for Justice filed the lawsuit in federal court in Hartford on Wednesday. The Arlington, Va.-based law firm says the state Dental Commission's regulations promote a monopoly for dentists by banning certain teeth whitening at salons and shopping malls.
A spokesman for the state Department of Public Health says officials haven't read the lawsuit and won't comment.
Regulations imposed in June cite inherent risks in teeth whitening and say whitening involves the practice of dentistry for diagnosing causes of discoloration, customizing treatment and other work.
The Institute for Justice, which takes on libertarian causes, says the regulations have put several practitioners out of business. |
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Chile court orders halt to Anglo American sale
Legal News |
2011/11/16 09:49
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A Chilean court on Tuesday ordered British-based mining company Anglo American to halt further sales of shares in a Chilean subsidiary.
The appeals court based in the capital of Santiago granted an injunction sought by Chile's state mining company, Codelco, which argues that it has first right of refusal on shares in Anglo American Sur, which has three operations in the country.
Anglo American PLC announced last week it had sold 24.5 percent of the subsidiary to Mitsubishi of Japan for $5.39 billion. Codelco has acknowledged that it cannot now overturn that sale, but its attorneys say they may ask for a review of its legality.
Codelco said in October that it planned to exercise its option to purchase 49 percent of the shares in Anglo American Sur for $6.57 billion. It said that option is open every third January under a contract signed in 1978 and modified in 2002.
Anglo American has announced it will fight the attempt to block its sale of the subsidiary. Its press office in Chile had no immediate comment on the court ruling.
Anglo American Sur operates the Los Bronces and El Soldado mines which produce about 261,000 tons of copper, as well as the Chagres smelter. |
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Kaplan Fox Files Securities Class Action
Legal Marketing News |
2011/11/16 09:48
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Kaplan Fox amp; Kilsheimer LLP has filed a class action suit against Jon S. Corzine, J. Randy MacDonald, Henri J. Steenkamp and certain other individuals that alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 on behalf of purchasers of the securities of MF Global Holdings Ltd. during the period May 20, 2010 through October 28, 2011, inclusive, including investors who purchased MF Global common stock previously traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MF and purchasers of the Company's debt securities.
The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A copy of the complaint may be obtained from Kaplan Fox or the Court.
The complaint alleges that in March 2010, Corzine, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and former Governor of New Jersey, became Chairman and CEO of MF Global and that after Corzine became Chairman and CEO of MF Global, the Company increased its risk and used its own money to trade, including making investments in European sovereign debt that has plummeted in value. Reportedly, Corzine's strategy was to transform the Company from a futures broker into a boutique investment bank.
The complaint further alleges that Corzine's push into more risky and principal trading with the Company's money was central to MF Global's profit-growing plan and transformation, and that Corzine and the other defendants represented that they could grow and transform the business without taking on excessive risk, while maintaining adequate capital and liquidity. Further, it is alleged that while making this transformation, Corzine and the other defendants failed to disclose that the Company was undercapitalized, exposed to excessive risk due to massive bets on debt issued by certain European governments, and did not have proper risk controls in place to manage these risks.
If you are a member of the proposed Class, you may move the court no later than January 3, 2012 to serve as a lead plaintiff for the Class. You need not seek to become a lead plaintiff in order to share in any possible recovery.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of the Class and is represented by Kaplan Fox amp; Kilsheimer LLP. Our firm, with offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New Jersey, has many years of experience in prosecuting investor class actions and actions involving financial fraud. For more information about Kaplan Fox amp; Kilsheimer LLP, or to review a copy of the complaint filed in this action, you may visit our website at www.kaplanfox.com. |
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