Additional $9 Million Returned Directly to Pennsylvania Consumers
HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that in 2018, the Office of Attorney General recovered more than $1 billion for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through various efforts, including consumer protection, public protection, health care enforcement, Medicaid fraud control, financial enforcement, tax litigation, and tobacco enforcement. For every $1 the Attorney General’s office received in 2018 taxpayer funding, it returned $10 to the Commonwealth.
The Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and Health Care Section also returned more than $9 million directly to Pennsylvania consumers through mediation and litigation efforts in 2018. This includes $1.35 million in restitution from a settlement with Uber resolving the company’s one-year delay and cover up in reporting a data breach that affected 13,500 Pennsylvania drivers. The Bureau received nearly 25,000 consumer complaints throughout the year.
“I’m proud of my Office’s work to recover $1 billion for the Commonwealth last year that the Governor and legislature can use to support critical services for Pennsylvanians,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “Additionally, my Bureau of Consumer Protection worked hard to save Pennsylvania consumers $9 million by putting money directly back into their pockets or clearing unwarranted debt. As Attorney General, I am committed to protecting Pennsylvanians’ hard-earned tax dollars and making good on their investment in our agency.”
Included in the more than $1 billion secured for the Commonwealth is $240 million in tax litigation, $95 million in financial enforcement, $35 million by the Bureau of Consumer Protection, $72,000 by the Public Protection Division, $626,000 by the Health Care Section, and $846,000 by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
Collected monies also include a total of $706 million in settlements with tobacco companies. This includes the $349 million received annually by the Commonwealth from the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, as well as an additional $357 million negotiated by Attorney General Shapiro in 2018.
In total, since Attorney General Shapiro took office in January 2017, his Office has brought back more than $1.5 billion to the Commonwealth and has returned more than $13 million directly to Pennsylvanian consumers.
A full breakdown of the revenue generation since AG Shapiro took office in 2017 can be found here.
# # #