SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of VeriFone Holdings Inc. shareholders after the company announced financial statements from the past year were overstated by nearly 80 percent. According to the complaint the revelation of VeriFone's overstatement immediately caused a dramatic decline in company stock.
An analysis of the facts leading up to the lawsuit can be found at http://corpfraud.typepad.com/. If you are an investor who wants to participate in this action as a lead plaintiff you must file a motion seeking appointment with the Court by February 4, 2008.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, alleges VeriFone misled investors and others about the company's performance, which caused the stock's price to be artificially inflated between August 31, 2006 and December 3, 2007 (the Class Period).
The lawsuit states in late August 2006 VeriFone announced purported strong results for the third quarter causing company stocks to rally. The complaint alleges that the August statements were materially false and misleading when made and were known by defendants to be false. According to the complaint the same cycle occurred another four times, the company made positive announcements about anticipated profits and stocks continued to grow. After each announcement company insiders continued to dump personal stock at artificially inflated prices.
The lawsuit also claims VeriFone insiders knowingly sold a total of $1.3 billion in company stock based on artificially inflated prices.
On December 3, 2007 VeriFone announced the financial statements for the past nine months were overstated and would have to be restated by $30 million.
According to the complaint after the December announcement company stock collapsed by more than 45 percent in one trading day. The complaint also claims VeriFone stock -- which once traded at a high of $50 per share -- quickly plummeted to $26.03. Today it sits at a multi-year low of around $16 per share.
If you invested in VeriFone common shares during the Class Period and are considering seeking appointment as lead plaintiff on or before February 4, 2008, or have further information concerning these facts you can e-mail the firm at
About Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is based in Seattle with offices in Chicago, Cambridge, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Since 1993, it has developed a nationally recognized practice in class-action and complex litigation. Among recent successes, HBSS has negotiated a $300 million settlement in the DRAM memory antitrust litigation, one of the largest anti-trust settlements in history; a $340 million recovery on behalf of Enron employees; a $150 million settlement involving charges of illegally inflated charges for the drug Lupron, and served as co-counsel on the Visa/Mastercard litigation which resulted in a $3 billion settlement, the largest anti-trust settlement to date. HBSS served as counsel in a $850 million Washington Public Power Supply settlement and represented Washington and 12 other states against the tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in history. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit http://www.hbsslaw.com/.
CONTACTS:
Reed R. Kathrein (510) 725-3000 Mark Firmani (206) 443-9357
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro Firmani + Associates Inc.
