BALTIMORE, Feb. 8, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A. is one of the firms that has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of shareholders who purchased Global Crossing, Ltd. ("Global Crossing" or the "Company") (NYSE:GX) (OTCBB:GBLXQ) (OTCBB:GBXGQ) shares between August 13, 1998 and January 28, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period"), against individual directors and officers of Global Crossing, namely, Gary Winnick, Lodwrick Cook, Jack Scanlon, David Lee, Dan Cohrs and James Gorton, as well as Global Crossings' auditors, Arthur Andersen, LLP ("Arthur Andersen").
The case has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District Of New York, Case No. 02-CV-910.
The Complaint alleges that defendants violated sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by improper recognition of revenue which improperly inflated reported revenue and earnings. In particular, the Individual Defendants caused Global Crossing to book as revenue the future receipts from contracts to sell rights to use its fiber optic cable network to Internet and other telecommunication companies, known as indefeasible rights of use ("IRU"), while entering into similar agreements with those same parties to purchase capacity from them in a different area. In essence, there was a barter arrangement which was improperly treated as if there were separate sale and purchase transactions. Moreover, Global Crossing's purchase transactions were treated as a capital expense, thus inflating Global Crossing's assets on its balance sheet. Global Crossing's statement of its revenue and earnings, therefore, were inflated, and its financial statements were thus materially misleading in violation of the federal securities laws. Defendant Arthur Andersen violated federal securities laws by issuing unqualified opinions on Global Crossing's materially misleading financial statements and allowing those opinions to be published.
Plaintiffs seek to recover damages on behalf of all those who purchased shares of Global Crossing common stock during the Class Period. If you purchased shares of Global Crossing common stock during the Class Period, you may, no later than April 6, 2002, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. 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 plaintiffs." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. To be a member of the class you need not take any action at this time, and you may retain counsel of your choice.
To learn more about this lawsuit and your ability to become a lead plaintiff, you may contact Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A., without obligation or cost to you, at The World Trade Center-Baltimore, 401 East Pratt Street, Suite 2525, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, by email at piven@pivenlaw.com or by calling 410/986-0036. Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven has been involved in shareholder class actions for over twelve years.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.