Garden State Times

TRENTON – Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced that civil enforcement efforts brought in more than $435.6 million through recoveries resulting from lawsuits and investigations alleging consumer, securities and other fraud, environmental cases, taxation matters and other types of affirmative and debt recovery actions.

The amount of recovered funds is nearly five times the amount recovered in 2021. The $435.6 million recovered by the State does not reflect other forms of relief obtained in certain of those matters that directly benefit victims, such as restitution for defrauded consumers or investors, balance forgiveness, and/or debt relief.

Litigation-related settlements and judgments paid by the State in 2022 totaled approximately $177.4 million. In 2021, that number was $196 million.

“The attorneys of the New Jersey Division of Law consistently prove their commitment to protecting the State, its natural resources, and its residents from all manner of threats,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Whether they are demanding that employees are properly categorized and compensated, making polluters pay to clean up their messes, or holding accountable companies that failed to protect New Jerseyans’ private data, the Division of Law’s attorneys work hard for us all.”

“The Division of Law is committed to serving the citizens of New Jersey by pursuing monetary and other relief from those who have victimized them or compromised the State’s resources,” said Division of Law Director Michael T.G. Long. “Our lawyers are among the best in New Jersey, and the work that they do continues to preserve the State’s environmental, economic and other resources so that New Jerseyans can continue to thrive in our great State.”

Noteworthy recoveries obtained by the Division of Law in 2022 included:

Chipotle Mexican Grill	$7,750,000.00	Chipotle Child Labor Law Violations
Credit Suisse (USA)	$195,000,000.00	Credit Suisse Toxic Mortgage-Backed Securities
ExxonMobil	$9,500,000.00	ExxonMobil Natural Resource Damages
Google	$17,790,082.95	Google Location Tracking
Navient	$3,011,009.00	Navient Corp. Misrepresentation
Uber Technologies	$99,999,813.99	Uber Driver Misclassification
Wawa	$2,508,707.14	Wawa Data Breach
Weichert Co.	$1,200,000.00	Weichert Data Breach
Yellowstone Capital	$1,750,000.00	Yellowstone Capital LLC Unlawful Practices

Original source can be found here.