Philip Morris Issued the Following Statement -- Almost Lost in Hype Over Lawsuit: Justice Says It Dropped Criminal Case.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 1999--

At the end of the Justice Department's press release announcing the filing of its civil case against the tobacco industry was the seemingly innocuous statement that "(t)here are no pending Criminal Division investigations of the tobacco industry."

What the Justice Department omits is that this statement marks the official closing of its widely-publicized, far-reaching probe of every facet of the U.S. tobacco industry - a closing without any charges being brought against the industry. The department investigated the industry for more than five years, with large teams of prosecutors, FBI agents and investigators from other federal agencies. The investigators sought evidence of alleged wrongdoing that mirrors the allegations in the civil complaint filed yesterday.

"One cannot help but question the department's motives in making those same allegations under the guise of a quasi-criminal RICO case - after it found no basis for bringing those same charges in its criminal investigation," said Kenneth V. Handal, associate general counsel for Philip Morris.