| Company: | Sterling Financial Corp. |
| Ticker Symbol: | NASD: SLFI |
| Class Period:: | April 27, 2004 to May 24, 2007 |
| Date Filed: | May-30-07 |
| Lead Plaintiff Deadline: | Jul-24-07 |
| Court: | Eastern District, PA |
| Allegations: |
A securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Sterling Financial Corporation
("Sterling") (NASDAQ: SLFI), Equipment Finance LLC ("EFI"), and certain
officers and directors of Sterling and EFI (Docket No. 07-2171). Sterling
is a diversified financial services company based in Lancaster, Pa. that
has $2.63 billion in deposits at sixty-one (61) bank branches in central
Pennsylvania, northern Maryland, and northern Delaware. EFI, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Sterling, is also headquartered in Lancaster, Pa. and
provides commercial financing for the soft pulp logging and land-clearing
industries, primarily in the southeastern United States. Lancaster, Pa. is
located in the region served by the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The class seeks to represent a Class consisting of all persons that purchased Sterling common stock between April 27, 2004 and May 24, 2007, inclusive (the "Class"). The complaint, which seeks damages and other appropriate relief for the Class, charges the Defendants with violations of the federal securities laws, including Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated there under.
The complaint alleges that the Defendants engaged in a scheme to defraud the investing public and artificially inflate the price of Sterling common stock during the Class Period. Among the facts alleged in the complaint are the following: (a) Sterling issued a press release on April 19, 2007 that disclosed, for the first time, that it was investigating "irregularities related to certain financing contracts" at EFI. (b) On April 30, Sterling announced that based on information that it received from its internal investigation related to EFI, it expects to be "restating financial statements for the years 2004 through 2006," and that all of Sterling's financial statements and earnings releases issued during this period "should no longer be relied upon due to the expected material impact of these irregularities." (c) After the markets had closed on May 24, Sterling issued another press release that disclosed that the "irregularities" at EFI were actually "a direct result of collusion by EFI employees," and that Sterling had terminated five (5) employees as a result of its investigation. (d) The May 24 press release also disclosed that Sterling's investigation "revealed evidence of a sophisticated loan scheme, orchestrated deliberately by certain EFI officers and employees over an extended period of time, to conceal credit delinquencies, falsify financing contracts and related documents, and subvert Sterling's established internal controls and reporting systems," according to the complaint. (e) Sterling common stock, which closed at $16.16 per share on May 24, fell by $6.19 upon the news contained in the May 24 press release, closing at $9.97 per share on May 25. (f) The $9.97 per share price at which SLFI closed on May 25 represents a decrease of $20.42 per share from the highest price at which Sterling common stock traded during the Class Period ($30.39) -- a decrease of nearly two-thirds (2/3) of the value of the stock.
If you acquired the securities of the defendants during the Class Period you may, no later than the Lead Plaintiff Deadline shown above, 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 class seeks to represent a Class consisting of all persons that purchased Sterling common stock between April 27, 2004 and May 24, 2007, inclusive (the "Class"). The complaint, which seeks damages and other appropriate relief for the Class, charges the Defendants with violations of the federal securities laws, including Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated there under.
The complaint alleges that the Defendants engaged in a scheme to defraud the investing public and artificially inflate the price of Sterling common stock during the Class Period. Among the facts alleged in the complaint are the following: (a) Sterling issued a press release on April 19, 2007 that disclosed, for the first time, that it was investigating "irregularities related to certain financing contracts" at EFI. (b) On April 30, Sterling announced that based on information that it received from its internal investigation related to EFI, it expects to be "restating financial statements for the years 2004 through 2006," and that all of Sterling's financial statements and earnings releases issued during this period "should no longer be relied upon due to the expected material impact of these irregularities." (c) After the markets had closed on May 24, Sterling issued another press release that disclosed that the "irregularities" at EFI were actually "a direct result of collusion by EFI employees," and that Sterling had terminated five (5) employees as a result of its investigation. (d) The May 24 press release also disclosed that Sterling's investigation "revealed evidence of a sophisticated loan scheme, orchestrated deliberately by certain EFI officers and employees over an extended period of time, to conceal credit delinquencies, falsify financing contracts and related documents, and subvert Sterling's established internal controls and reporting systems," according to the complaint. (e) Sterling common stock, which closed at $16.16 per share on May 24, fell by $6.19 upon the news contained in the May 24 press release, closing at $9.97 per share on May 25. (f) The $9.97 per share price at which SLFI closed on May 25 represents a decrease of $20.42 per share from the highest price at which Sterling common stock traded during the Class Period ($30.39) -- a decrease of nearly two-thirds (2/3) of the value of the stock.
If you acquired the securities of the defendants during the Class Period you may, no later than the Lead Plaintiff Deadline shown above, 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.
