SAN DIEGO, Oct. 19, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Law Firm of Robbins Umeda & Fink, LLP announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Apollo Group, Inc. ("Apollo" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:APOL) between February 27, 2004 and September 14, 2004, inclusive (the "Class Period"). If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.ruflaw.com/join.html or by calling (800) 350-6003.
The complaint charges Apollo and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Apollo provides higher education to working adults. The Company operates through its subsidiaries The University of Phoenix, Inc., University of Phoenix Online ("UOP"), Institute for Professional Development ("IPP"), The College for Financial Planning Institutes Corporation and Western International University, Inc.
The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period defendants disseminated materially false and misleading financial statements. The true facts, which were known by each of the defendants but concealed from the investing public during the Class Period, were as follows: (a) that contrary to the implication that there was no merit to the allegations in a qui tam action concerning the Company's illegal compensation structure, the Company in fact did illegally compensate certain of its employees who were involved with the recruitment of new students; (b) that the Company was generating revenues through illegal means which ultimately resulted in a fine by the Department of Education ("DOE"), the largest fine ever paid to date; (c) that the "strong growth" in enrollment in Q2 2004 was attributable to illegal compensation activities; and (d) that defendants inflated the Company's student enrollment by signing up "unqualified" students.
On September 7, 2004, it was disclosed that Apollo had reached an agreement with the DOE to pay $4.4 million to settle a five-year-old audit in possible compensation-related rule violations at IPP and $9.8 million to settle a separate review of similar regulatory issues at its UOP unit. Then, on September 15, 2004, The Wall Street Journal published an article regarding the DOE report which criticized the Company for having a "culture of duplicity" in which recruiters' compensation was tied to enrollment numbers. The Company's stock price dropped sharply on these disclosures.
If you bought the securities of Apollo between February 27, 2004 and September 14, 2004, you may qualify to serve as lead plaintiff in this action. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than December 10, 2004.
Robbins Umeda & Fink, LLP has significant experience prosecuting class actions on behalf of investors. If you wish to discuss this action, please call or e-mail the Firm at: