Lantheus Medical Imaging and former parent company Bristol-Myers Squibb have agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle a whistleblower case that alleged the firms knowingly evaded New York state and city taxes.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman alleged that Lantheus and Bristol-Myers Squibb did not pay applicable New York state business franchise taxes, New York City corporation taxes, or Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) surcharges from 2002 to 2006, when Lantheus was known as Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging. The company derived substantial revenues from its sales of imaging products to hospitals, clinics, and other facilities during that period, as well as from its training and servicing activities in connection with its sales, according to a statement from Schneiderman.
The action was initiated by a May 2012 filing of a whistleblower complaint in State Supreme Court in Manhattan by a tax services provider who became aware of Lantheus' failure to pay New York taxes. Schneiderman said that a subsequent investigation concluded that Lantheus knowingly failed to pay more than $2.2 million in New York state and city taxes.
The whistleblower in this action will receive more than $1.1 million from the settlement proceeds, while the city of New York will receive $693,143.
