NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Pomerantz Haudek Block Grossman & Gross LLP (www.pomerantzlaw.com) has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division), case number: 02 C 9107, against Spiegel, Inc. ("Spiegel" or the "Company") (Pink Sheets:SPGLA) and four of the Company's senior officers on behalf of investors who purchased the common stock of Spiegel during the period between April 24, 2001 and April 19, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period").
The lawsuit charges that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by issuing and/or failing to correct false and misleading financial statements and press releases concerning the Company's publicly reported revenues and earnings.
The Complaint alleges that Spiegel, a leading international specialty retailer marketing fashionable apparel and home furnishings to customers through catalogs, nearly 580 specialty retail and outlet stores, and e-commerce sites, issued and/or failed to correct financial statements and results of operations which were false and misleading and prepared in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), due, among other things, to Spiegel's accounting of its credit card business which improperly inflated its income and earnings, failed to account for increasing charge-offs, and grossly inflated the value of its securitized receivables.
On April 19, 2002, Spiegel revealed to the market information concerning the deterioration of its credit card business and its impact on Spiegel's' overall business. In addition, the Company reported that it had not filed its Form 10-K for the 2001 fiscal year. In response to the news, Spiegel's Class A Non-Voting shares fell from a high of $3.15 on April 19, 2002 to a low of $1.01 on April 22, 2002 or a decline of more than 90% from the Class Period high of $10.71. One June 3, 2002, the NASD delisted the Company's Class A common stock on the Nasdaq National Market System effective June 2, 2002, "based on the Company's filing delinquencies and other public interest concerns."
If you purchased the common stock of Spiegel during the Class Period, you have until February 14, 2003 to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff for the Class. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, you must meet certain legal requirements. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint, or if you would like to discuss this action or have any questions, please contact Andrew G. Tolan, Esq. of the Pomerantz firm at 888-476-6529 (or (888) 4-POMLAW), toll free, or at agtolan@pomlaw.com by e-mail. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address and telephone number.
The Pomerantz firm, which has offices in New York and Chicago, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 50 years later, the Pomerantz firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members.