More Corporate Espionage At Nephron?

NIKKI HALEY’S FAVORITE PHARMACEUTICAL FIRM FACES ADDITIONAL ALLEGATIONS …

By FITSNEWS  ||  A month ago, this website published a sprawling exclusive on the ongoing debacle that is Nephron Pharmaceuticals‘ South Carolina facility.

Our report – which you can read HERE – detailed a host of problems with the company, which after receiving millions of dollars from South Carolina taxpayers in 2011 vowed to create 707 jobs averaging $71,000 a year.

Have they done that?  No … more than three years later, whistleblowers told FITS there are only 25-30 South Carolina employees working at Nephron’s gleaming, government-subsidized facility in Cayce, S.C.  And they’re making an estimated average income of $45,000.

Our exclusive also delved into allegations of corporate espionage on the part of Nephron – with whistleblowers accusing the company of stealing proprietary pharmaceutical “batch records” prepared by another company, The Ritedose Corporation (TRC) of Columbia, S.C.

Now Nephron is being accused of committing additional corporate espionage.

According to emails obtained by FITS, Nephron executives – including one of the company’s top quality assurance managers – allegedly obtained confidential information from an Albemarle Corporation facility in Orangeburg, S.C.  These technical records were allegedly obtained to assist Nephron in getting its pharmaceutical manufacturing operations up and running.

In March of this year, purported evidence of this alleged theft was provided to William Brown – a business attorney at the Nelson Mullins law firm who represents Albemarle.

“We are planning our options for moving forward,” an Albemarle executive wrote in an email dated March 2, 2014, one which references a meeting with Brown.

Another email dated February 24, 2014 references Nephron being in possession of “ALB’s confidential information.”

Hmmmm …

According to our sources, two Nephron employees – Lawson Jowers and Mike Brown – previously worked for Albemarle.

“They met there and planned the transition to Nephron,” one source alleges.

FITS was suspicious of the Nephron deal from the beginning – and we said so.  In fact, we published a detailed story regarding its questionable financials – and also wrote extensively about pay-to-play allegations involving Nephron and the governor.  Not only that, we busted Haley in a lie regarding her prior connections to the company’s founders – Bill Kennedy and his wife, Lou Kennedy (who have contributed thousands of dollars to Haley’s political campaigns and who frequently allowed Haley access to Nephron’s private jet).

As we noted in our exclusive report on Nephron last month, we have no beef with the company.

“We hope Nephron succeeds … primarily because we’d hate to see millions of dollars in tax money flushed down the toilet with absolutely nothing to show for it,” we wrote.  “But Nephron’s success or failure isn’t the issue here – the issue is whether taxpayers should have to assume the risk associated with it.”

Indeed …

Companies should rise and fall on the strength of their ideas and their ability to implement those ideas – not the extent to which they lavish gifts and campaign contributions on corrupt politicians.

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