NEW YORK, June 1, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP announces that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division on behalf of purchasers of UICI (NYSE:UCI) common stock during the period between January 17, 2000 and July 21, 2003 (the "Class Period").
The complaint charges UICI and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. UICI is a diversified financial services company offering financial services, health administrative services, and insurance through its various subsidiaries and divisions to niche consumer and institutional markets.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, the defendants, who controlled and were senior officers of UICI, engaged in a scheme to conceal UICI's badly flagging Academic Management Services Corp. ("AMS") division to prevent a decline in the UICI's stock price. UICI's actual financial results and the true status of its operations were concealed by defendants, which artificially inflated or maintained the market price of UICI shares during the Class Period. Each of the statements issued during the Class Period was false and misleading and misrepresented and/or failed to disclose the following material adverse information: (i) that defendants knowingly tolerated UICI's inadequate internal accounting controls and consequently lacked any reasonable basis for the financial results reported by them; (ii) that UICI's reported income was materially overstated by in excess of $65 million; (iii) that only through UICI's accounting fraud had UICI achieved the earnings reported by defendants; (iv) that the AMS division was not successful and its fundamentals and prospects were deteriorating; and (v) that UICI had failed to account for costs associated with liabilities resulting from its AMS program and its reserves were materially understated.
On July 21, 2003, UICI revealed that it would record a charge of at least $65 million. This revelation caused trading in UICI stock to be halted on the New York Stock Exchange and ultimately to plummet to less than $12 per share, a decline of 45% from its Class Period high of $21.22 per share.
Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP and its predecessor firms have devoted its practice to shareholder class actions and complex commercial litigation for more than thirty years and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for shareholders in class actions throughout the United States.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired any of the Funds described above, between January 17, 2000 and July 21, 2003, and sustained damages, you may, no later than July 25, 2004, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff. Shareholders outside the United States may also join the action, regardless of which exchange they used to purchase their shares. To serve as lead plaintiff, however, you must meet certain legal requirements. You can join this class action as lead plaintiff online at: (http://www.murrayfrank.com/cases.htm). If you would like to discuss this action, this announcement, or your rights and interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel Eric J. Belfi or Aaron D. Patton of Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP.