Law Firm Debevoise Advise Pernod Ricard In Sale of Cruzan Rum Brand To Fortune Brands

New York – August 28, 2008 – LAWFUEL – Law Firm Announcements – Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is advising Pernod Ricard in its agreement to sell the Cruzan rum brand and related assets to Fortune Brands for an amount of US $100 million (€68 million). Pernod Ricard also signed an agreement with Fortune Brands for an early termination of the distribution by Future Brands, a joint venture company between Vin & Sprit and Fortune Brands, of Vin & Sprit brands in the US, and in particular Absolut, effective October 1st 2008. As part of this agreement, Pernod Ricard is paying to Fortune Brands a compensation of US $230 million (€156 million).

Pernod Ricard is the world’s co-leader in wines and spirits with sales of €6,589 million in 2007/08, holding one of the most prestigious brand portfolios in the sector. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a leading international law firm with offices in New York, Washington D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The Debevoise team in New York is led by partner Paul S. Bird and includes partners Gary M. Friedman and Gary W. Kubek, counsel Kyra K. Bromley and Rafael Kariyev, and associates Joshua E. Gewolb, Oliver A. Olah, and Daniel Z. Sinrod.


US Attorney – DME Defendants Sentenced In Multi-Million Dollar Medicare Fraud

LAWFUEL – Legal Announcements – R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Miami Regional Office, and Bill McCollum, Attorney General, State of Florida, announced that defendants Mabel and Abner Diaz, of Miami Lakes, FL were each sentenced today to fourteen years’ incarceration for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and health care fraud. Defendant Suleidy Cano, of Hialeah, FL was sentenced to eleven years’ incarceration for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to the parties’ joint factual statement in support of the plea, the fraud involved durable medical equipment (DME), which is equipment that can be used in the home on a repeated basis for a medical purpose. Where DME is prescribed or ordered by a physician, an authorized Medicare provider who supplies the equipment to a Medicare beneficiary may be eligible for reimbursement by Medicare.

Abner Diaz and Mabel Diaz co-owned and operated All-Med Billing Corp., a Miami medical billing company, where Cano worked as a biller. All-Med submitted claims to Medicare on behalf of suppliers who purportedly provided DME to Medicare beneficiaries. All-Med submitted $419,935,692.74 in fraudulent claims for DME purportedly provided to Medicare beneficiaries by 85 DME suppliers. These claims were for equipment that not been ordered by physicians or delivered to the beneficiaries as claimed. As a result of these claims, Medicare paid the suppliers approximately $148,586,919.99.

Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marc Osborne and Joseph Shumofsky.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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