ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., Dec. 12, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Gardy & Notis, LLP ("Gardy & Notis") has filed the first class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on behalf of shareholders who purchased, exchanged or otherwise acquired the common stock of TOP Tankers, Inc. ("TOP" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:TOPT) between June 28, 2005 and November 28, 2006 (the "Class Period").
TOP and certain of its officers and directors are charged with issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements in violation of Section 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. On November 29, 2006, TOP shocked investors after it announced that Ernst & Young, LLP, the Company's independent auditors, had resigned over a disagreement related to its accounting for certain sale and lease back transactions, and that it would be forced to restate its interim financials for the entire half of 2006. The revelation of this news caused shares of TOP to fall almost 15% in the single trading day, to close just above $5.00 per share.
The Complaint alleges that TOP materially misrepresented and failed to disclose conditions that adversely affected the Company throughout the Class Period in order to: (1) artificially inflate the price of Company shares by deceiving shareholders concerning TOP's business, operations, management and the intrinsic value of TOP common stock; (2) register for sale with the SEC, millions of shares of TOP stock, and to provide shareholders with a massive $7.50 dividend per share -- almost $40 million of which was paid to defendants and their families; (3) permit Kingdom Holdings, an entity owned by the family of defendant Evangelos Pistiolis, to liquidate almost 900,000 Company shares during the Class Period while in possession of material adverse information about the Company.
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this case, you must move the Court no later than February 9, 2007. 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. If you would like to discuss your legal rights, you may e-mail or call Gardy & Notis, without obligation or cost to you. You may contact Dustin Mansoor of Gardy & Notis at (201) 567-7377, or by email at dmansoor@gardylaw.com.
Special Notice: While federal law does not prohibit other lawyers from "announcing" this lawsuit, Gardy & Notis, with our co-counsel, is the law firm that researched, investigated, drafted and filed the securities fraud case against TOP. If you are a TOP shareholder who decides to contact one of these lawyers, Gardy & Notis reminds you to fully interview any lawyer to assure that they fully understand the facts surrounding the TOP claims our firm has filed in Court.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primenewswire.com/ca/