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Business Associations Keyed to Coffee, 9th Ed.
Malone v. Brincat
Citation:
722 A.2d 5 (1998)Facts
The plaintiffs alleged that since 1994, Mercury Finance Company’s directors had caused the company to disseminate information containing significant overstatements of Mercury’s earnings, financial performance, and shareholders’ equity. According to the complaint, Mercury’s earnings for 1996 were actually only $56.7 million ($0.33 per share) rather than the reported $120.7 million ($0.70 per share). Similar overstatements were alleged for 1993-1995. Shareholders’ equity as of December 31, 1996 was reported as $353 million but was allegedly only $263 million or less. The plaintiffs claimed this inaccurate information was included in virtually every SEC filing and shareholder communication during this period. The complaint alleged that as a direct result of these false disclosures, the company lost approximately $2 billion in value. The plaintiffs sought class action status to pursue damages against the directors and KPMG for the individual plaintiffs and common stockholders.
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