Ashcroft firm gets juicy U.S. monitor deal

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's Washington firm is set to collect $52 million to monitor a court settlement engineered by the Justice Department.

Ashcroft Group Consulting Services was one of five private attorney groups selected by the U.S. attorney in New Jersey to monitor a settlement of a federal probe into alleged kickbacks paid by manufacturers of artificial knee and hip joints.

The Newark Star-Ledger said Tuesday that Securities and Exchange Commission documents recently revealed that the payments include more than $1.5 million per month to Ashcroft Group plus $750,000 paid to the firm's "senior leadership group."

The fees are paid by the manufacturers named in the lawsuit, which alleged that surgeons were paid to use their products in violation of Medicare rules.

A spokesman for Ashcroft told the Ledger that the deal was a fairly standard arrangement for such major cases. A number of other former U.S. attorneys, including some who were sacked by Ashcroft's successor, Alberto Gonzalez, were also tabbed to act as monitors in the case.