BALA CYNWYD, Pa., Oct. 28, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- A shareholder sued Avista Corp. ("Avista") (NYSE:AVA) claiming that the company misled investors about its business and financial condition, as alleged in a complaint filed by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and seeks damages for violations of federal securities laws on behalf of all investors who bought Avista Corp. securities between November 23, 1999 through August 13, 2002 (the "Class Period").
Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP has prosecuted shareholder class actions for over fourteen years and has recovered more than $1 billion for investors. If you are a shareholder of Avista Corp. and want to learn more about this lawsuit and about becoming a lead plaintiff, you may visit our website at http://www.sbclasslaw.com/cgi/signup.cgi.
The complaint alleges that the Washington-based Avista Corp. made misstatements of material facts and omitted to state material facts in their public statements and elsewhere, including failing to disclose that Avista was engaged in highly risky energy trading activities with Enron and PG&E ("PG&E or "Portland General Electric") involving so-called "Ricochet" or "megawatt laundering" trades in which Avista acted as a middleman between Enron and PG&E so that Enron could evade California's caps on electric power prices and charge California artificially high prices for electricity, that Avista routinely acted as a middleman between affiliates such as Enron and PG&E in order to facilitate transactions to proceed which would have been prohibited under federal rules if the affiliates had engaged in them without an intermediary, and that Avista was and is exposed to substantial contingent legal liabilities as a result of the foregoing, including the threatened revocation of its license to trade electric power on the wholesale markets, or market-based rate authority, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The complaint alleges that on August 14, 2002, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that it may take formal enforcement action on charges that Avista helped manipulate California power prices during 2000, Avista stock tumbled 11.85 percent, and on September 17, 2002 Avista stock traded at as low as $11.10 per share, down from its class period high of $67.55.
If you purchased Avista Corp. securities between November 23, 1999 through August 13, 2002, you may be a member of the class and have until December 2, 2002 to move the court to become a lead plaintiff. To learn more about your rights and interests in this case and your ability to potentially recoup your losses, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway directly at 888-299-7706 (toll free) or 610-822-2221, fax number 610-822-0002, e-mail at info@sbclasslaw.com or visit our website at www.sbclasslaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca