INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal lawsuit alleges that thieves who broke into an Eli Lilly and Co. warehouse in Connecticut three years ago and stole more than $60 million worth of drugs obtained a copy of a report that revealed weaknesses in the building’s security system.
Eli Lilly insurer National Union Fire Insurance Co. sued ADT Security Services this month in federal court in Connecticut. The Indianapolis Star reports (http://indy.st/179MSfc ). ADT had created a report before the March 2010 break-in detailing weaknesses in the warehouse’s security system.
The suit seeks $42 million in damages — the amount of the Indianapolis-based drug maker’s insurance claim — from ADT, whose corporate security business is now run by Tyco Integrated Security.
The suit says the security report allowed two brothers indicted in the largest-ever U.S. pharmaceutical heist to know the warehouse’s placement of every security camera, motion detector and glass-break sensor.
National Union claims the thieves used the security report to “infiltrate the warehouse without triggering the security monitoring system,” the lawsuit says. The thieves knew where to cut through the roof to avoid security detectors and which parts of the warehouse and loading bays weren’t seen by surveillance cameras.
The lawsuit does not speculate on how the thieves obtained the security report or provide any proof they had it.
A National Union attorney declined to discuss the lawsuit while it’s pending.
Tyco spokesman Brett Ludwig also said he could not comment on pending litigation but said the company “take(s) very, very stringent and solid precautions to safeguard all our customer information.” Eli Lilly is still a client of Tyco.
Eli Lilly spokesman Greg Kueterman told the Star the company “recognize(s) the right of the insurer to pursue this litigation,” but that it has “no other stake in the lawsuit.”
Amaury and Amed Villa, who lived in Miami, are currently awaiting trial in Connecticut. The FBI arrested them in 2012.
Authorities said fingerprints left on water bottles inside the Eli Lilly warehouse led them to the brothers. A lawyer for Amaury Villa said that before the lawsuit, she’d never heard of the allegations that Villa had access to the warehouse’s security report.
“I have extensive knowledge about that case,” Maria Elena Perez told the Star. “I don’t know where that allegation comes from. It’s never been alleged by the government.”
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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com
