Rooting Out Public Corruption
Attorney General Schneiderman charged political consultant Steven Pigeon this week with bribery, rewarding official misconduct, and grand larceny. In connection with the alleged scheme, New York Supreme Court Justice John Michalek pleaded guilty to receiving bribes from Pigeon, and for filing a false document with the New York State Office of Court Administration when he appointed a receiver who had been suggested by Pigeon. The charges stem from an ongoing public corruption investigation by the Office of the Attorney General.
Major Settlement in Volkswagen Investigation
The Attorney General announced New York State’s participation in settlements with Volkswagen AG and its Audi and Porsche affiliates arising from the company’s violations of emissions standards and state consumer protection laws. As part of the settlements, New York owners of certain VW and Audi diesel cars will be entitled to sell their cars back at full, pre-scandal fair market value or keep their vehicle and wait to see if VW and Audi develop acceptable emissions fixes. Car owners who exercise either option will also receive a cash payment of at least $5,100. The Attorney General’s investigation is ongoing and intends to hold Volkswagen and its affiliated companies accountable for their violations.
Protecting Vulnerable Communities From Exploitation
The Attorney General reached a settlement with Global Elites Network Xpeed Learning Academy (“Xpeed”) that targeted Chinese-speaking parents with false advertising for a children’s summer academic enrichment program. An investigation by the Attorney General’s office revealed that the company was unable to provide substantiation for the miraculous results promised in its advertisements. The company will pay $60,000 in restitution to parents of children in the program, cease its deceptive advertising of the program, and make changes to the company’s refund policy.
Expanding Access To Women’s Healthcare Resources
The Attorney General issued a statement following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike two provisions of Texas law that would have substantially limited access to abortion services in that state:
"Today’s Supreme Court decision striking down Texas’s unconstitutional and disingenuous abortion restrictions is a landmark victory for women’s health and definitively rejects the state of Texas’s spurious claims that their draconian restrictions protected women’s health. This ruling, the most significant abortion decision in a generation, puts states on notice that they cannot adopt restrictions that unduly burden or deny a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. In a concurring opinion, Justice Ginsburg movingly spotlights the women whose desperation in the face of such abortion restrictions would drive them to unlicensed rogue practitioners at great risk to their health and safety. Today marks a decisive step forward in the fight for reproductive freedom, and a turning point away from a period of endless restrictions whose sole purpose is to block women from exercising their right to choose.”
In January 2016, Attorney General Schneiderman led a coalition of 14 states and the District of Columbia in filing a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate both of these regulations.
