GoLocalProv reports on grim day for CVS, Hasbro and Bank of America

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Corporate Reckoning hits Rhode Island with Hasbro, Bank of America, and CVS

In a column published by GoLocalProv, the outlet reported on a single, grim day two weeks ago when three of Rhode Island’s most prominent corporate stalwarts made national headlines for reasons that left community members and civic leaders reeling. Long gone are the days when these institutions were anchored by local executives deeply embedded in regional philanthropy. Instead, a trio of devastating developments—comprising facilities closures, massive federal penalties, and opioid-crisis litigation—unfolded simultaneously.

For decades, Hasbro stood as a monument to local manufacturing creativity, built on the hard work of generations of Rhode Islanders. That era officially ended when Hasbro filed its federally required WARN letter, confirming the closure of its Rhode Island facilities and uprooting just under 600 jobs destined for Boston. CEO Chris Cocks, who has planned the transition for years, managed to heap additional insults on Pawtucket in the process, a move the local reporting labeled classless.

The company insists these maneuvers do not constitute technical layoffs. Yet for employees unwilling or unable to make a brutal daily commute to Boston, employment terminates by the end of the year.

Federal Penalties and Laundering Failures at Bank of America

The corporate hits kept coming later that same day. The U.S. Treasury Department announced a monumental settlement with Bank of America, an institution tied deeply to Rhode Island’s economic history through its acquisition of Fleet Bank. The bank admitted to willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain a compliant anti-money-laundering program, neglecting due diligence on foreign correspondent accounts, and omitting required suspicious activity reports.

Bank of America is paying $1.21 billion in penalties, marking the third-highest settlement in Treasury history. The punishment drew sharp condemnation from lawmakers, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Bank of America failed to implement an effective anti-money laundering program for years, allowing Chinese crime syndicates and other illicit actors to move billions in suspicious transactions through our financial system. The Biden Administration failed to hold Bank of America accountable in 2024, and now, the Trump Administration is letting Bank of America off the hook with a slap-on-the-wrist fine that represents a small fraction of the $30 billion in profits the bank made last year alone, said Warren.

Warren argued that true accountability demands an asset cap, strict limitations on shareholder dividends and stock buybacks, and a thorough criminal investigation. She added that CEO Brian Moynihan—who simultaneously serves as Chancellor of Brown University—should answer to Congress regarding why executives ignored compliance warnings, even after regulators ordered corrective actions.

CVS Settles Over Opioid Distribution Violations

Meanwhile, the long-term fallout from the nation’s public health disaster involving prescription opioids took another serious legal turn. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously estimated that the opioid crisis claimed approximately 750,000 lives nationwide. Against that backdrop, the Department of Justice announced that CVS agreed to pay $315 million to resolve allegations spanning from October 17, 2013, through December 2, 2025.

Authorities claimed that the corporation unlawfully dispensed prescriptions for opioids and other regulated drugs, breaching the terms of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Subsequently, the firm allegedly sought reimbursement for numerous unlawful drug orders from Medicare alongside additional federal health initiatives, breaching the False Claims Act (FCA).

A significant portion of these documented violations occurred during the tenure of Helena Foulkes, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Rhode Island who previously oversaw CVS pharmacies and served as the company’s president. Foulkes has repeatedly declined to offer substantive responses when questioned about the violations. When the lawsuit was initially launched, Zachary A. Cunha, then the Democratic-appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, used severe language to characterize the corporate behavior.

During the 2024 announcement, Cunha pointed out that opioid overdoses continue to devastate families nationwide and across Rhode Island, vowing that authorities will deploy every available measure to hold businesses accountable whenever enterprises like CVS prioritize financial gains above patient welfare and burden pharmacy personnel to the point where verifying prescription authenticity becomes impossible.

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