| Company: | Career Education Corporation |
| Ticker Symbol: | NASD:CECO |
| Class Period: | April 22, 2003 to December 2, 2003 |
| Court: | Northern District, IL |
| Date Filed: | Dec-10-03 |
| Lead Plaintiff Deadline: | Feb-09-04 |
| Allegations: |
A class action lawsuit has been commenced against Career Education Corporation ("CEC" or the "Company"), John M. Larson (CEO, Pres. and Chairman) and Patrick K. Pesch (CFO). The lawsuit, civil action number 03-CV-8884, is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of purchasers of CEC (NASDAQ:CECO) securities, who were damaged thereby, during the period between April 22, 2003 and December 2, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period").
The complaint charges CEC and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint alleges that Career Education publicly touted its business and financial performance, the performance of its stock price and its industry leading position as reasons for why investors should purchase its stock. These, and other statements particularized in the complaint, were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose that CEC had been regularly falsifying student records in order to increase graduation rates and enrollment, conceal problems that could have threatened the accreditation of its schools, and generally, to allow it to increase its profitability. On December 3, 2003, the market learned that the former registrar of CEC's Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California alleged, in a complaint filed with an accreditation agency, that the school falsified student records to ensure that the school passed inspections by accreditation auditors and to increase enrollment. In reaction to this announcement, CEC's stock price plummeted, falling from $54.76 per share on December 2, 2003 to $39.48 on December 3, 2003, a one-day drop of 28%, on trading volume of 18.2 million shares -- more than nine times the Company's three-month daily average. Throughout the Class Period, Career Education insiders, including the individual defendants, sold a total of 1.7 million (split-adjusted) shares of Career Education common stock at artificially inflated prices, reaping gross proceeds in excess of $69 million.
If you acquired the securities of the defendants during the Class Period you may, no later than Feb-09-04, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff through counsel of your choice. You may also choose to remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff must meet certain requirements.
The complaint charges CEC and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint alleges that Career Education publicly touted its business and financial performance, the performance of its stock price and its industry leading position as reasons for why investors should purchase its stock. These, and other statements particularized in the complaint, were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose that CEC had been regularly falsifying student records in order to increase graduation rates and enrollment, conceal problems that could have threatened the accreditation of its schools, and generally, to allow it to increase its profitability. On December 3, 2003, the market learned that the former registrar of CEC's Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California alleged, in a complaint filed with an accreditation agency, that the school falsified student records to ensure that the school passed inspections by accreditation auditors and to increase enrollment. In reaction to this announcement, CEC's stock price plummeted, falling from $54.76 per share on December 2, 2003 to $39.48 on December 3, 2003, a one-day drop of 28%, on trading volume of 18.2 million shares -- more than nine times the Company's three-month daily average. Throughout the Class Period, Career Education insiders, including the individual defendants, sold a total of 1.7 million (split-adjusted) shares of Career Education common stock at artificially inflated prices, reaping gross proceeds in excess of $69 million.
If you acquired the securities of the defendants during the Class Period you may, no later than Feb-09-04, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff through counsel of your choice. You may also choose to remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff must meet certain requirements.
If you feel you qualify for damages or remedies that might be awarded in this class action please fill in our form on the right to submit your complaint.
If your injustice does not match the complaint described above, please use this form to register your complaint. Thank you.
