Tobacco firms on trial in the US
BRITISH American Tobacco joins other major cigarette makers in the dock today as the US government seeks $280bn (£152.1bn) for racketeering.
American prosecutors allege the tobacco industry has deliberately deceived the public about the risks of smoking since the 1950s.
The Justice Department wants the industry to give up $280bn worth of past profits and wants tougher rules on marketing, advertising and warning claims on tobacco products.
Tobacco companies are also accused of targeting teenagers in advertising.
The case is being brought against BAT's US unit, British American Tobacco Investments, the Altria Group and its Philip Morris USA unit, Loews Corp's Lorillard Tobacco unit, Vector Group's Liggett Group and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.
The companies deny the allegations and say they have changed their marketing practices since 1998, when they signed a $206bn settlement with the state attorneys general severely restricting cigarette marketing.
The lawsuit was filed by the Clinton administration in 1999 claiming that tobacco firms manipulated nicotine levels to increase addiction, and lied about the dangers of smoking in a 'massive 50-year scheme to defraud the public'.
The US Government claims that executives from the country's top five cigarette makers colluded at a 1953 meeting in New York to organise the fraud.
'The government has provided extensive evidence to support our case,' Peter Keisler, assistant attorney general in the US Justice Department's civil division, said.
While BAT executives are unlikely to appear in the case, the companies are putting up a vigorous defence.
William Ohlemeyer, lead lawyer for the Altria Group, parent company of Philip Morris USA, said claims made by manufacturers over the period about the risks attached to smoking had been done so honestly.
'They may have been wrong and in some cases they might admit it, but that isn't fraud,' he said.
An appeal against the lawsuit is still pending, and some analysts believe a settlement may be reached following November's Presidential election, especially if the Republicans are returned.
