Shareholder Class Action Filed Against Viisage Technology Inc. by the Law Firm Of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP
Friday March 18, 6:21 pm ET
RADNOR, Pa., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP:
Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of all securities purchasers of Viisage Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: VISG - News; "Viisage" or the "Company") between October 25, 2004 and March 2, 2005 inclusive (the "Class Period").
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP (Marc A. Topaz, Esq. or Darren J. Check, Esq.) toll free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com.
The complaint charges Viisage, Bernard Bailey, William Aulet, and Denis K. Berube with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) that in order to make the Company more attractive to outside lenders and relieve the controlling shareholder from its role as the Company's creditor, Viisage artificially inflated its third quarter profit and made baseless earnings projections; (2) that the Company inflated third quarter profit by improperly recognizing certain corporate benefits, while deferring the recognition of certain corporate expenses; and (3) that relying on the inflated profits Viisage was able to secure a credit line, from an outside source, to finance its business operations.
On February 7, 2005, Viisage announced that earnings and net income were expected to fall below guidance. News of this shocked the market. Shares of Viisage fell $1.36 per share or 18.71 percent, on February 8, 2005, to close at $5.91 per share. On March 2, 2005, Viisage reported final results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2004. The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2004 was $5.2 million, or $0.11 per fully diluted share. Additionally, Viisage reported that the Company determined that it had an internal control deficiency. On this news shares of Viisage fell another $0.97 per share or 17.73 percent, on March 3, 2005, to close at $4.50 per share.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, which prosecutes class actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Schiffrin & Barroway is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered in excess of a billion dollars on behalf of institutional and high net worth individual investors. For more information about Schiffrin & Barroway, or to sign up to participate in this action online, please visit sbclasslaw.com
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than May 9, 2005 move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Schiffrin & Barroway, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
CONTACT: Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP
Marc A. Topaz, Esq.
Darren J. Check, Esq.
280 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087
1-888-299-7706 (toll free) or 1-610-667-7706
Or by e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com
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Source: Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP |
