SAN DIEGO, March 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers or acquirers of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) securities between April 27, 2017 and February 25, 2022, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”) have until May 2, 2022 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in Nyy v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, No. 22-cv-01167 (E.D.N.Y.). Commenced on March 3, 2022 and assigned to Judge William F. Kuntz, II, the Ericsson class action lawsuit charges Ericsson and certain of its top executive officers with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
CASE ALLEGATIONS: Ericsson, together with its subsidiaries, provides communication infrastructure, services, and software solutions to the telecommunications and other sectors. Ericsson operates in, among other countries, the Republic of Iraq.
The Ericsson class action lawsuit alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (i) Ericsson overstated the extent to which it had reformed its business practices to eliminate the use of bribes to secure business in foreign countries; (ii) Ericsson had paid bribes to the terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (“ISIS” or the “Islamic State”) to gain access to certain transport routes in Iraq; (iii) accordingly, Ericsson’s revenues derived from its operations in Iraq were, in at least substantial part, derived from unlawful conduct and thus unsustainable; and (iv) as a result, Ericsson’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On February 16, 2022, Ericsson’s CEO told a Swedish newspaper that Ericsson may have made payments to ISIS to gain access to certain transport routes in Iraq, noting that Ericsson had identified “unusual expenses dating back to 2018” but had not yet determined the final recipient of the funds for those expenses, although defendants could “see that it disappeared,” and that Ericsson has spent “considerable resources trying to understand this as best we can.” On this news, Ericsson’s American Depositary Share (“ADS”) price fell by more than 11%.
Then, on February 27, 2022, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (“ICIJ”) published a report on Ericsson’s alleged dealings with ISIS in Iraq, citing a leaked internal investigation that revealed that Ericsson had reportedly made “tens of millions of dollars in suspicious payments” over nearly a decade to keep its business in the country. The ICIJ report also alleged that “a spreadsheet lists company probes into possible bribery, money laundering and embezzlement by employees in Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brazil, China, Croatia, Libya, Morocco, the United States and South Africa,” which “have not been previously disclosed.” On this news, Ericsson’s ADS price fell an additional 8.3%, further damaging investors.
THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Ericsson securities during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the Ericsson class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the class action lawsuit. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery of the class action lawsuit is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.
ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN & DOWD LLP: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world’s leading complex class action firms representing plaintiffs in securities fraud cases. The Firm is ranked #1 on the 2021 ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering nearly $2 billion for investors last year alone – more than triple the amount recovered by any other plaintiffs’ firm. With 200 lawyers in 9 offices, Robbins Geller’s attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action recovery ever – $7.2 billion – in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig.
