ATLANTA, Feb. 7, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Chitwood & Harley LLP announces that a class action lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of Bio-Technology General Corporation ("BTG" or the "Company"), (Nasdaq:BTGC), between April 19, 1999 and August 2, 2002, inclusive ("Class Period"). The Complaint names BTG, Sim Fass, Christopher G. Clement, and Yehuda Sternlicht as defendants.
Chitwood & Harley LLP is currently investigating these claims. If you wish to discuss this action, obtain a complaint or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights with respect to this matter, you may contact Jennifer Morris at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free) or by e-mail at jlm@classlaw.com. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this action, you must file a motion to do so no later than March 11, 2003. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of his or her choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges Bio-Technology and certain of its executive officers with violations of federal securities laws. Among other things, plaintiff claims that the defendants' material omissions and dissemination of materially false and misleading statements concerning Bio-Technology's revenue and earnings caused the stock price to become artificially inflated, inflicting damages on investors. Specifically, plaintiff asserts that in order to inflate the price of BTG's stock, defendants caused the Company to falsely report its results during 1999, 2000 and 2001 through improper revenue recognition practices, including recognizing revenue in shipments to distributors where significant uncertainties existed concerning realization of the invoiced amounts, which precludes revenue recognition under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. On August 2, 2002, defendants announced that BTG's 1999-2001 results would be restated to eliminate revenue that had been improperly recorded. BTG has now restated its results for each of the years ended December 31, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
In order to serve as lead plaintiff, you must meet certain legal requirements which Chitwood & Harley would be happy to discuss with you. Chitwood & Harley is a class action law firm that represents victims of securities fraud and corporate mismanagement. Chitwood & Harley has been appointed lead counsel in major actions throughout the United States and has been instrumental in obtaining significant recoveries on behalf of its clients. Clients and courts alike have praised the results achieved by Chitwood & Harley. Recently, the federal judge in In re BankAmerica Securities Litigation, which resulted in last year's highest settlement in a securities class action, commented favorably on counsel's performance stating: "Class members were well served by experienced attorneys who, through considerable time and effort, obtained a significant recovery for their clients," and, "(a)s the Court has remarked throughout this litigation, class counsel ... have performed at exceptionally high levels, and all parties have been exceedingly well represented."
For more information about Chitwood & Harley LLP, please visit our website at www.classlaw.com or contact Jennifer Morris at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free), by e-mail at jlm@classlaw.com or at 1230 Peachtree Street, Suite 2300, Atlanta, Georgia 30309.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.