Cuccinelli's office presses feds to release Abbott settlement funds

RICHMOND — Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office is pressing the federal Treasury Department to go ahead and release Virginia’s $115 million share of a national Medicaid fraud settlement.

The state has been promised the money for leading an investigation that resulted in last year’s $1.5 billion settlement with Abbott Laboratories. The attorney general’s office expects to receive an initial $10 million payment this week. But the Treasury Department said earlier this month that it needed more details on how the office plans to spend the rest.

In a letter released Wednesday, a deputy attorney general tells the Treasury Department that its demand for more information is inconsistent with its own guidelines and past practice. He asks the department to immediately release the money so Virginia can earn interest on it.

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