NEW YORK, March 30, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm Seeger Weiss LLP announces that it filed a class action lawsuit yesterday in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Viisage Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:VISG) ("Viisage" or the "Company"), between July 22, 2004 and March 2, 2005, inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") against defendants Viisage, Bernard Bailey, William Aulet, and Denis K. Berube.
The complaint charges defendants with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the Company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following material adverse facts which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) Viisage had engaged in improper conduct with respect to a $20 million contract with the State of Georgia's Department of Motor Vehicles ("Ga. DMV"); (2) in order to make the Company more attractive to lenders and relieve the controlling shareholder from its role as the Company's creditor, Viisage artificially inflated its third quarter 2004 profit and made baseless earnings projections; (3) Viisage inflated its third quarter 2004 profit by improperly recognizing certain corporate benefits, while deferring the recognition of certain corporate expenses; and (4) Viisage's internal accounting controls were so flawed that they qualified as having "material weaknesses" under Public Accounting Oversight Board's Accounting Standard No. 2 and, as such, violated the provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley relating to the Company's ability to file accurate financial statements.
On February 7, 2004, Viisage announced that earnings and net income were expected to fall below guidance. News of this shocked the market. Shares of Viisage fell $1.36 per share or 18.71 percent, on February 8, 2005, to close at $5.91 per share. On March 2, 2005, Viisage reported final results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2004. The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2004 was $5.2 million, or $0.11 per fully diluted share. Additionally, Viisage reported that the Company determined that it had an internal control deficiency. On this news shares of Viisage fell even further.
Seeger Weiss is a New York based firm that is active in major complex litigations and class actions pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Seeger Weiss has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers and others and has recovered millions of dollars for clients and class members.
If you bought the securities of Viisage during the Class Period, and sustained damages, you may, not later than May 9, 2005 move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. 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 Seeger Weiss LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please feel free to contact us:
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca