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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GREENLAW4-7 who wrote (6458)	2/5/2002 12:07:58 AM
From: Patrick J. Saunders	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 206094

HC may have some problems: SAN DIEGO, Feb 4, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Milberg Weiss (http://www.milberg.com/hanover/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on behalf of purchasers of Hanover Compressor Company ("Hanover") (HC, Trade) publicly traded securities during the period between Nov. 8, 2000 and Jan. 28, 2002 (the "Class Period"). If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, William Lerach or Darren Robbins of Milberg Weiss at 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at wsl@milberg.com. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at milberg.com. 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 Hanover and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Hanover is a provider of natural gas compression, gas handling and related services in the United States and selected international markets. The complaint alleges violations of the federal securities laws arising out of defendants' issuance of false financial statements and other false and misleading statements about the Company's operating performance. The true facts, which were known by the defendants during the Class Period but concealed from the public, were: (a) the $16 million in revenue and $2.6 million in net income recognized in Q3 and Q4 associated with the Hampton Roads fabrication project should not have been recognized as it did not reflect the percentage of the project's completion; (b) Hanover's "former majority partner" in the Hampton Roads project was actually replaced on March 19, 2001, not July 2001; (c) defendants "paid off" the investor in Hampton Roads the sum of $1 million in exchange for the investor's signature on the sham transaction documents on or before Sept. 30, 2000, in order for the Company to use the same to inflate the Company's revenue and earnings as early as Q3 00; (d) defendants issued a "side letter" to the Hampton Roads investor offering to loan up to $40 million to the joint venture in order to induce the investor to enter into the agreement by Sept. 30, 2000; (e) in winter 2000, defendants actually knew that the Hampton Roads project completion date had been pushed out to 2003 or 2004, not 2001; (f) the Registration Statement omits the Hampton Roads project and incorporates the Company's false and misleading Q3 and Q4 2000 financial results; (g) the Company's financial statements for Q1-Q3 2001 were false in that the revenue and EPS were overstated and they failed to disclose the impact of the dubious Hampton Roads project. Moreover, these statements (in addition to the Registration Statement/Prospectus) concealed the fact that the investor in the transaction advised defendants in February 2001 that it sought to back out of the venture; and (h) on Feb. 6, 2001, the investor in Hampton Roads demanded a refund of his $4 million. Further, in a secret "behind-the-scenes" type transaction, the Company refused to refund the money directly to the investor. Instead, defendants forwarded the money to a company related to the investor so that the transaction would go uncovered. Finally, defendants arranged for the "related company" to issue a Promissory Note to Hanover in the amount of $4 million (the same amount as the refund) which it agreed in an oral "side agreement" not to insist upon payment. Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Hanover publicly traded securities during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP, who has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud. Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP, a 170-lawyer firm with offices in New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boca Raton, Seattle and Philadelphia, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Milberg Weiss has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of World War II and other human rights violations, and has been responsible for more than $30 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Milberg Weiss Web site (http://www.milberg.com) has more information about the firm. CONTACT: Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP William Lerach, 800/449-4900 wsl@milberg.com TICKERS: NYSE:HC URL: businesswire.com Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. Copyright (C) 2002 Business Wire. All rights reserved.