LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP announces that all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of Life Partners Holdings, Inc. ("Life Partners" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:LPHI) between May 29, 2007 and January 20, 2011, inclusive (the "Class Period"), have until April 4, 2011 to move the Court to serve as Lead Plaintiff in the securities fraud class action lawsuit. The case filed by Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP, Goad v. Life Partners Holdings, Inc., et al., No. 11-cv-00030-WSS, has been assigned to the Honorable Walter S. Smith, United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas.
A copy of the Complaint is available from the court or from Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP. Please contact us by phone to discuss this action or to obtain a copy of the Complaint at (310) 201‑9150 or Toll Free at (888) 773‑9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.glancylaw.com.
The Complaint charges the Company and certain of its executive officers with violations of federal securities laws. Life Partners, through its subsidiary, Life Partners, Inc., operates in the secondary market for life insurance generally known as "life settlements." Life settlement transactions involve the sale of an existing life insurance policy to another party – the policyholder receives an immediate cash payment; the purchaser takes an ownership interest in the policy and receives an ownership interest in the policy's death benefit when the insured dies.
The Complaint alleges that defendants issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that, among other things: (1) the Company routinely used life expectancy data that produced inaccurately short life expectancy reports, which were subsequently used to sell life settlement policies to investors; (2) the Company concealed the historical rate at which individuals insured by life settlement policies sold by Life Partners had lived past the life expectancy rates previously provided to investors, such that the Company's investors were unable to assess the accuracy or reliability of such data; (3) by underestimating life expectancy data to investors, the Company was able to charge substantially larger fees when brokering life settlement policies; (4) as a result, the Company's financial statements were false and misleading at all relevant times; and (5), as a result of the foregoing, the Company's statements about its financial performance and future business prospects were lacking in any reasonable basis when made.
On December 21, 2010, The Wall Street Journal published an article questioning the Company's life-expectancy estimates and business practices, noting that Life Partners "made large fees from its life-insurance transactions while often significantly underestimating the life expectancies of people whose policies its customers invest in." On January 20, 2011, the newspaper published an article disclosing that the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Life Partners' business practices related to how it estimated life expectancies of insured individuals whose life insurance-policy rights the Company was selling. Later that same day, the Company confirmed the SEC was investigating the business of its operating subsidiary, Life Partners, Inc.
As a result of this news, shares of Life Partners declined by $2.58 per share, more than 17%, to close on January 20, 2011, at $12.46 per share, on unusually high volume, and further declined another $0.64 per share on January 21, 2010, to close at $11.82 per share, also on unusually high trading volume.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PSLRA") requires the Court to appoint a "Lead Plaintiff" in this case. Any person or group who suffered a loss as a result of purchasing Life Partners securities between May 29, 2007 and January 20, 2011, may ask the Court to be appointed as Lead Plaintiff, but must file a motion no later than the April 4, 2011 deadline.
Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP is a law firm with significant experience in prosecuting class actions, substantial expertise in actions involving corporate fraud, and is representing Life Partners shareholders in this litigation.
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 contact Michael Goldberg, Esquire, of Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP, 1801 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 311, Los Angeles, California 90067, by telephone at (310) 201‑9150, Toll Free at (888) 773‑9224, by e‑mail to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at http://www.glancylaw.com.