SEATTLE – CM Travel must refund individuals who answered an employment ad for travel agents but instead were offered opportunities as independent contractors. The Attorney General’s Office announced a settlement today with the Bellevue-based company and its owners, resolving allegations that they violated the state Consumer Protection Act.

OLYMPIA - Attorney General Rob McKenna in conjunction with 48 other states, the District of Columbia and the federal government, today announced a settlement with Merck & Co., Inc. Merck is the manufacturer of the drugs Zocor, Vioxx, and Pepcid. The announcement resolves allegations that the company failed to pay rebates due state Medicaid Programs under the Federal Medicaid Drug Rebate statute. Washington will receive more than $7.4 million as part of two separate global settlements totaling $649 million.

OLYMPIA— An employee of a Pierce County nursing facility pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of first-degree theft, one count of second-degree theft and three counts of forgery.

Katherine J. Burwell’s crimes occurred between October 2005 and August 2006.  She was ordered to pay nearly $6,400 in restitution, court costs and fees for her crimes.

OLYMPIA—The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit today filed nine felony counts against a Clark County woman accused of falsely billing for services.

Carolyn M. Suttie was charged today with one count of theft in the first degree, eight counts of Medicaid False Statement. Suttie held a contract to provide personal care services for a vulnerable adult living in her home.  It is alleged that she billed the Department of Social and Health Services’ Medicaid Program but failed to provide such services.

Rob McKenna
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF WASHINGTON
1125 Washington Street SE • PO Box 40100 • Olympia WA 98504-0100

For Immediate Release:
January 31, 2008

SEATTLE – The Washington State Attorney General’s Office today announced a settlement in its case against three Oregon companies accused of using deceptive tactics to sell credit and debit card processing services to small businesses in Washington state.

OLYMPIA…The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today issued an opinion in Costco Wholesale Corporation’s antitrust lawsuit challenging nine specific restraints on the sale and distribution of beer and wine in Washington. 

Reversing a district court decision, the Ninth Circuit found seven of the nine challenged regulations were valid.

OLYMPIA – Attorney General Rob McKenna and University of Washington economist Keith Leffler will gather public comments and discuss results from the first phase of the state’s ongoing investigation into gas prices on Tuesday, Feb. 5, in Bellevue for the final scheduled stop on the “Gas Gauge” tour.

OLYMPIA – Five bills requested by Attorney General Rob McKenna are scheduled for public hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The bills would help keep cell phone numbers private, make it a crime to view child pornography, allow non-commissioned police personnel to assist in child pornography investigations, remove the limit on ethics board penalties and costs and protect consumers from spyware.

OLYMPIA – Attorney General Rob McKenna announced today that Washington will sign on to an amicus brief to support the commercial fishermen, seafood processors, tribes and others whose lives were impacted by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.