Sterling Financial (MM) (NASDAQ:SLFI)
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From Jul 2019 to Jul 2024
Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (“Lerach
Coughlin”) (http://www.lerachlaw.com/cases/sterlingfinancial/)
today announced that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on
behalf of purchasers of Sterling Financial Corp. (“Sterling
Financial” or the “Company”)
(NASDAQ: SLFI) common stock between April 27, 2004 and May 25, 2007,
inclusive (the “Class Period”),
seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(the “Exchange Act”).
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later
than July 24, 2007. If you wish to discuss this action or have any
questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please
contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel H. Rudman
or David A. Rosenfeld of Lerach Coughlin at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058
or via e-mail at wsl@lerachlaw.com.
If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint
as filed or join this class action online at http://www.lerachlaw.com/cases/sterlingfinancial/.
Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead
plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing
and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges Sterling Financial and certain of its officers and
directors with violations of the Exchange Act. Sterling Financial
describes itself as a “diversified financial
services company based in Lancaster, Pa.” The
Company operates in four segments: Community Banking and Related
Services, Leasing, Commercial Finance, and Trust and Investment Services.
Throughout the Class Period, defendants issued numerous positive
statements and filed quarterly reports with the SEC which described the
Company’s increasing financial performance.
These statements were materially false and misleading because they
failed to disclose and misrepresented the following adverse facts, among
others: (i) that Sterling Financial was materially overstating its
financial results by artificially inflating revenues in its Commercial
Finance division, which represented approximately 41% of Sterling
Financial’s net income. As detailed herein,
Sterling Financial now expects to incur a charge of at least $145
million to $165 million and will be restating its financial statements
for 2004 to 2006 and possibly for earlier periods; (ii) that the Company
lacked adequate internal controls and was therefore unable to ascertain
its true financial condition; and (iii) that as a result of the
foregoing, the values of the Company’s net
income and earnings were materially overstated at all relevant times.
On April 30, 2007, the Company announced that it expected to be
restating its financial statements for the years 2004 through 2006 as a
result of “irregularities in certain
financing contracts” at Equipment Finance LLC
(“Equipment Finance”),
a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Lancaster County and the sole
affiliate within the Company’s Commercial
Finance segment. Moreover, the Company announced that two senior
executives of Equipment Finance have been placed on leave. Upon this
announcement, shares of the Company’s stock
fell $4.07 per share or almost 20% to close at $16.65 per share, on
heavy trading volume.
Then, on May 24, 2007, Sterling Financial announced that the “previously
reported irregularities” at Equipment Finance
were a “direct result of collusion”
by certain Equipment Finance employees. As a result, the Company expects
to record a cumulative after-tax charge to its December 31, 2006
financial statements of at least $145 million to $165 million. Moreover,
five Equipment Finance employees were terminated, including the Chief
Operating Officer and Executive Vice President. In response to this
announcement, on the next trading day, shares of the Company’s
stock fell $6.19 per share, or almost 40%, to close at $9.97 share, on
extremely heavy trading volume.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all those who purchased
the common stock of Sterling Financial between April 27, 2004 and May
25, 2007. Plaintiff is represented by Lerach Coughlin, which has
expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience
in actions involving financial fraud.
Lerach Coughlin, a 180-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Houston,
Philadelphia and Seattle, is active in major litigations pending in
federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a
leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors,
consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations.
Lerach Coughlin lawyers have been responsible for more than $20 billion
in aggregate recoveries. The Lerach Coughlin Web site (http://www.lerachlaw.com)
has more information about the firm.