NY federal appeals court restores European Union racketeering lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds

[flowers]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/23/ny-federal-appeals-court-restores-european-union-racketeering-lawsuit-against/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fnational+%28Internal+-+US+Latest+-+Text%29

NEW YORK –  A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit by the European Union alleging that U.S. tobacco company R.J. Reynolds sponsored cigarette smuggling in Europe.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City ruled Wednesday that the European Union and 26 of its member states were within their rights to sue in U.S. courts.

The lawsuit alleges that RJR directed, managed and controlled a global money-laundering scheme with organized crime groups. It said the company laundered money through New York-based financial institutions.

[Oceander]

The second circuit's opinion can be downloaded directly here:  http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/8412869e-866a-42f2-8696-6978bdcf0a39/1/doc/11-2475_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/8412869e-866a-42f2-8696-6978bdcf0a39/1/hilite/


It's not a bad decision, all things considered.  It also doesn't mean that RJR is liable for RICO violations, it merely means that the case can move forward (because the case is in a pretrial stage right now).