WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government embarked on a 280 billion-dollar lawsuit against major tobacco companies, the largest-ever US civil racketeering case, which could bankrupt the industry if successful.
In an opening argument before a packed Washington courtroom, government prosecutor Frank Marine said the case "is all about fraud ... half-truths and deceptions that continue to this day."
The government accuses tobacco companies of colluding during decades to hide evidence of the health hazards of smoking, marketing directly to teenagers to create lifelong smokers and lying about the safety of low-tar cigarettes.
The defendants include Philip Morris USA, which controls about half of the US tobacco market; RJ Reynolds Tobacco' Loews Corp's Lorillard Tobacco; Brown and Williamson, which is part of British American Tobacco PLC; and the Vector Group's Liggett Group.
All are being sued under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) act, which was intended to hinder Mafia infiltration of business.
The companies have strongly denied the charges and have pledged a determined defense. The trial is expected to take six months.
"Why did the defendants pursue this course of action? Money, pure and simple," said Marine.
The defendants have "fraudulently maintained confusion about the causal relationship between smoking and health problems."
Furthermore they "developed a unified strategy" to forge an industry-wide response to health concerns, "falsely claiming the causal relationship between smoking and disease was an open question."
Marine detailed 145 specific racketeering accusations against the industry, arguing among other things, that the defendants "victimized the youth of America."
"The defendants' marketing in part causes teens to underestimate the risks of smoking," he said.
"Defendants aimed their marketing at adolescents and it works."
Prosecutor Sharon Eubanks said tobacco groups had "worked consistently toward the goal of casting doubt on the fact second-hand smoke is dangerous."
She also said the tobacco companies convinced smokers to switch to reduced "tar" cigarettes, which killed smokers, anyway.
"Low tar cigarettes are no less harmful," she said.
The case, filed with great fanfare during the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton, took five years to come to trial.
If the government wins, the tobacco industry could be forced into bankruptcy. But industry representatives are confident they will prevail in court.
For the government "to get any remedy at all ... there has to be a determination by the judge that there is a future likelihood of violations of RICO ... regardless of what the court thinks about the past," said John Wunderli, senior assistant general counsel for Altria.
Industry officials say their practices have changed dramatically since a landmark 1998 agreement with state governments over smoking-related health care costs.
The industry agreed to pay the states 206 billion dollars over 25 years, as well as adhere to strict advertisement limits, including a ban on television ads, billboards and sponsorship of sporting events.
The tobacco industry contributes heavily to the Republican Party, and President George W. Bush's political advisor, Karl Rove, served as a Philip Morris consultant in the 1990s.
Attorney General John Ashcroft hailed the action as "an important effort to prevent fraudulent activity and uphold corporate integrity."
"We look forward to presenting the evidence supporting our case in court, and to achieving relief, including the recapture of wrongfully obtained proceeds from the sale of cigarettes and preventing cigarette manufacturers from marketing to young people in this country," he said in a statement.
However when Ashcroft was a senator for the state of Missouri in the 1990s he fiercely opposed the lawsuit, as well as government regulation of tobacco.
The trial started even though the government's right to seek the money under the RICO act is under appeal in a separate court.