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Federal agents raid pharmaceutical company’s Chesterfield office

Posted at 1:46 PM, Dec 03, 2013
and last updated 2013-12-04 09:18:52-05

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) - Federal agents raided the Midlothian office of Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Tuesday. The office is in the Fairfax Building located at 10710 Midlothian Turnpike.

"We can confirm that federal officers from the US government presented a search warrant at the offices of Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, Inc.," company spokesman Tony Brand wrote in an email. "RB is cooperating fully with the investigation, but the officials did not disclose the purpose of the warrant."

The raid involved the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Food and Drug Administration and Office of Inspector General (OIG), according to CBS 6 reporter Joe St. George who was on the scene. OIG is part of part of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.

"People who work in the building say it is a pharmaceutical company getting raided," St. George tweeted. [Click here to follow Joe on Twitter]

Federal officials on site did not comment regarding the specifics of the raid.

According to its website, RB is an international company specializing in health and consumer items, although its Chesterfield office dealt exclusively with pharmaceutical drugs.

Reuters reported in November that the company was considering selling its pharmaceutical unit.

The New York Times reported earlier this year the FDA asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the company's potentially anti-competitive business practices.

It is unclear whether or not Tuesday's raid was related to that request or not.

RB's office occupies just one small part of the medical office building.

Employees in other parts of the building reported the work day for them was relatively a smooth one with investigators focusing solely on RB's office.