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Krislov firm appointed
Lead Counsel in DVI, Inc. Securities Cases:
On November 25, 2003, U.S. District Judge Legrome Davis,
for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania entered an order appointing
the Chicago-based Cedar
Street Group as lead plaintiffs, and Chicago law firm
Krislov & Associates,
Ltd. as lead attorney in the securities class actions
brought against DVI,
Inc.'s former Chief Executive Officer, Michael A. O'Hanlon,
and Chief
Financial Officer, Steven R. Garfinkel, and DVI's former
lead underwriter,
Merrill Lynch & Co (collectively, "the Defendants").
Claims against DVI,
Inc. (DVI or Company) are currently stayed due to its
August 25, 2003
bankruptcy filing in U.S. Bankruptcy court in Delaware.
At the time of
DVI's collapse, the Chicago Pritzker family was reported
as owning over 17%
of the company's shares.
The claims were filed
for all individuals who purchased the common
stock and the 9 7/8% Senior Notes of DVI between November
7, 2001 through
August 13, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period"),
seeking to pursue remedies
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The allegations assert
that Defendants engaged in a fraudulent
scheme to deceive the public as to medical financier
DVI's true financial
condition. Specifically, the allegations assert that
Defendants failed to
disclose material adverse facts, including, but not
limited to, the
Company's failure to write down the value of certain
impaired assets; its
failure to properly account for and report non-recurring
transactions; its
failure to adopt adequate internal controls; and its
material overstatement
of assets and earnings. As a result of Defendants fraudulent
scheme, DVI
stock became artificially inflated during the class
period, trading as high
as $20.99 per share on June 17, 2002, and has recently
traded at 11 cents, a
lost company value of approximately $240 million.
On August 13, 2003, after
the market closed, DVI disclosed in a
press release its intention to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
protection,
triggered by the discovery of apparent improprieties
in its prior dealings
with lenders involving misrepresentations as to the
amount and nature of
collateral pledged to lenders, and simultaneously announced
that DVI's CEO
and CFO had been placed on administrative leave. These
revelations came
just ahead of announcements by the Company that its
auditor, Deloitte &
Touche LLP, had resigned over a dispute concerning the
Company's accounting
for certain transactions; that the Company had depleted
all availability on
its credit facilities; that DVI failed to make interest
payments on its 9
7/8 percent Senior Notes due to severe liquidity constraints;
and that the
SEC had rejected the Company's filing of its quarterly
report for the third
quarter of 2003.
On August 14, 2003, the
New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of
DVI stock and Senior Notes, pending delisting. On the
same day, DVI stock
closed at $0.30 per share, representing a one-day decline
of 62.50 percent.
For more details, of if you are a class member who wishes
to enter
the lawsuit, contact Clinton A. Krislov or Michael R.
Karnuth by Phone:
(312) 606-0500; fax: (312) 606-0207; e-mail: clint@krislovlaw.com
 Read
the court's opinion.
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