NEW YORK, June 19, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- On May 2, 2006, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP announced the filing of a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court, Central District of California, on behalf of all persons who purchased the securities of Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation ("Vitesse" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:VTSS) between January 28, 2003 and April 26, 2006, inclusive (the "Class Period"), against defendants Vitesse, certain of its officers and directors, including Louis R. Tomasetta, Yatin Mody, Eugene F. Hovanec, John Lewis, James A. Cole, Alex Daly, Moshe Gavrielov, and Vincent Chan, and KPMG LLP, the Company's auditors, alleging violations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. Section 78(i)(b), 78(t) and 78t-1(a) and Rule 10b-5, promulgated thereunder, 17 C.F.R. Section 240.10b-5 (the "Class").
On May 16, 2006, Vitesse issued a press release announcing that the Company's securities are subject to delisting from the Nasdaq National Market because of its failure to file its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2006.
On May 17, 2006, Vitesse announced that defendants Tomasetta, Mody, and Hovanec were terminated by the Company.
On May 18, 2006, Vitesse announced that it had received a subpoena from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and a document request from the SEC.
As a result of this news, Wolf Haldenstein is continuing its ongoing investigation into the matter.
Wolf Haldenstein's initial complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants issued numerous, positive press releases, statements and quarterly financial reports filed with the SEC that described the Company's financial performance. These statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (a) that there were issues concerning the credits issued to or requested by customers (for returned products or otherwise) and the related accounting treatment; (b) that the Company improperly applied payments received to the proper accounts receivable; (c) that the Company's accounts receivable and revenues may have been misstated; (d) that there was misuse of stock option grants, the timing of such grants, and other related accounting and documentation issues; (e) that the Management Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting as of September 30, 2005 could not be relied upon; (f) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls and was therefore unable to ascertain its true financial condition; and (g) that as a result of the foregoing, defendants engaged in improper accounting practices.
On April 26, 2006, the Company revealed that the Board of Directors retained special counsel to conduct an investigation into a series of issues and further stated that its previously reported financial statements for the three months ended December 31, 2005 and the three years ended September 30, 2005, and possibly earlier periods, should not be relied upon.
Following the April 26th news, shares of the Company's common stock fell over 27% to close at $1.82 per share, on unusually heavy trading volume of almost 59 million shares traded.
As a result of the dissemination of the false and misleading statements set forth above, the market price of Vitesse securities was artificially inflated during the Class Period. In ignorance of the false and misleading nature of the statements described above, and the deceptive and manipulative devices and contrivances employed by said defendants, plaintiffs and the other members of the Class relied, to their detriment, on the integrity of the market price of the stock in purchasing Vitesse securities. Had plaintiffs and the other members of the Class known the truth, they would not have purchased said shares, or would not have purchased them at the inflated prices that were paid.
The case name is styled Neuman v. Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation., et al. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP website at www.whafh.com.
If you purchased Vitesse securities during the Class Period, you may request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff by July 3, 2006.
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 plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Wolf Haldenstein, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has approximately 60 attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in Chicago, New York City, San Diego, and West Palm Beach. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions, please contact Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP at 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, by telephone at (800) 575-0735 (Gregory M. Nespole, Esq., Gustavo Bruckner, Esq., Martin Restituyo, Esq., or Derek Behnke), via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com or visit our website at www.whafh.com. All e-mail correspondence should make reference to Vitesse.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca