According to the claim, Legal Business Consultants and other conspirators have related ownership and connections with former officials of the Government of Ukraine. The claim states that the defendants conspired in a series of transactions resulting in the sale of 27 medical vehicles at grossly inflated prices to the Ministry.
This case represents the second court action arising out of a comprehensive anti-corruption investigation ordered by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in May 2010. The first lawsuit was filed by Ukrvaktsina, a state-owned entity within Ukraine's Ministry of Health, in a U.S. federal court in Portland, Oregon on September 17, 2010. The US lawsuit was filed jointly by the law firms of Trout Cacheris, PLLC and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP. The two firms also collaborated with the international investigative firm Kroll, Inc. on the investigation on behalf of the Government of Ukraine, which served as an impetus for both lawsuits.
The UK claim was filed by Nabarro LLP, which is working closely with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, LLP.
Mark MacDougall of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, LLP commented, "This second legal action is a result of the comprehensive audit commissioned by the Government of Ukraine, and sends a strong signal that the current administration is taking the issue of corruption very seriously. It is willing to allow the level of scrutiny that accompanies litigation in the Western courts so as to ensure that such allegedly corrupt practices are not repeated."
Source: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, LLP
