ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609090074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST
A narrow probe of possible perjury charges against several tobacco executives for 1994 congressional testimony has been expanded into a far-reaching Justice Department investigation into whether industry officials have systematically lied to Congress and government agencies about the addictive nature of tobacco and about industry practices.
Officials said the FBI and Justice Department have used police tactics to break open drug rings, pressuring current and former mid-level employees of at least one tobacco company to turn over information about their bosses.
Recently, according to industry and government officials, FBI agents knocked on doors of perhaps a dozen Richmond-area Philip Morris Cos. employees at dinner time. The agents flashed their badges and genially asked a few questions of the tobacco giant's workers, then handed each employee a subpoena to testify before a Washington grand jury. The government also has demanded documents from the company.
The investigation is being run by the fraud section of the Justice Department's criminal division and is being monitored by Attorney General Janet Reno, an official said. One government official familiar with the investigation said he expects it to be a complicated process: ``We have to see how extensive the paper trail is.''
Justice Department officials said their probe is independent of White House influence.
Regardless of the probe's impetus, the tobacco industry faces a criminal investigation that represents a new kind of threat. Now there is not just the possibility of more government oversight and monetary loss, but also jail time, if the department determines an effort was made to hide information from federal officials.
Justice officials said the probe has evolved since 1994 as information emerged in the media, congressional investigations and the Food and Drug Administration's effort to regulate tobacco.
Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who conducted a number of 1994 hearings into tobacco industry practices, and Martin Meehan, D-Mass., asked Reno to investigate the industry because statements by tobacco executives appeared to conflict with industry documents and statements by former employees. Such requests are taken seriously, Justice officials said.
Officials are comparing testimony and documents provided by the corporations to the FDA and Congress with internal memoranda to see if there are conflicts. Authorities also hope to discover if pertinent information has been withheld. The investigation focuses not only on Philip Morris but also on other tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.
Philip Morris, the only company that has acknowledged receiving subpoenas, has said it is cooperating with the government.
A senior law enforcement official noted that investigators are targeting mid-level managers because they are ``people in the know who are not necessarily responsible for the decisions. You let these people who are less culpable tell the story, and see where all this leads.''
The official described this approach as similar to tactics used in dismantling drug rings: arrest and pressure street-level or mid-level dealers to learn more about the trafficking network's leadership.
The potential infraction involves a federal law that prohibits lying to government agencies. The law, which also allows prosecution for withholding information, provides for a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each lie.
The criminal investigation is fueled at least in part by revelations contained in documents and affidavits that have emerged over two years.
Philip Morris officials deny their company blends its products with nicotine delivery in mind, and say that nicotine is included in cigarettes primarily for taste. But in testimony before Congress, FDA Commissioner David Kessler quoted a former Philip Morris official who wrote in 1972: ``Think of the cigarette pack as a storage container for a day's supply of nicotine. Think of the cigarette as a dispenser for a dose unit of nicotine.''
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB