Rite Aid indictments
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Revlon, Coty, L'Oréal, Quality King and Warner Lambert Consumer Healthcare (now part of Pfizer) among vendors defrauded in a 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 Vendors were subject to "systematically inflated" charges for damaged and outdated merchandise (totaling $28 mil. in FY 1999) and/or "bogus" charges for items purportedly sold at clearance ($30 mil. in 1999). The indictment cites October 1998 invoices to L'Oréal for $370,000 and Revlon for $500,000 as evidence of fraud conspiracy and mail fraud. Justice Department criminal charges, SEC accounting fraud charges against Rite Aid were filed June 21 in Harrisburg, Penn. federal court...