WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Law Office of Mark McNair announced a securities class action lawsuit has been filed against El Paso Corp. (NYSE:EP). The complaint is on behalf of, and seeks damages for shareholders who purchased the stock between January 29, 2001 and May 29, 2002. The class also includes holders of Coastal Corp. securities who acquired El Paso common stock as a result of El Paso's acquisition of Coastal.
The Complaint alleges that the Company and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements to the market. The Complaint also alleges that El Paso manipulated both energy prices and accounting regulations in order to report materially inflated revenues from its energy-trading operations and to hide billions of dollars of debt in off-balance sheet partnerships.
On May 29, 2002, the Company announced a "strategic repositioning" and downsizing plan to limit its investment in and exposure to energy trading. As a result, El Paso shares fell 23%. One week later, the Company disclosed that it received an informal inquiry from SEC staff regarding the issue of "round-trip" trades.
To sign up online: http://www.justice4investors.com
To serve as lead plaintiff, you must meet certain legal requirements. The lead plaintiff is a person or institution who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. The Law Office of Mark McNair recognizes that investors with significant losses often are uncertain about the class action process and they are unclear whether they should take an active role in a case. The Law Office of Mark McNair would be happy to review this process with you. The deadline for filing a Lead Plaintiff Motion is September 16, 2002.
If you have any questions, please contact Mark McNair at 1101 30th Street PN.W. Suite 500, Washington, D.C, 20007 by telephone at (877) 511.4717 or (202) 872.4717, via e-mail at wmmcnair@justice4investors.com or visit our website www.justice4investors.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca