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Broker-Dealer Litigation - Greenberg Traurig LLP

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disregarded and resulted in omissions and misrepresentations of certain figures to investors. The<br />

court declined to reconsider, stating that the confidential witness testimony offered by plaintiff<br />

supported the inference that the problems were pervasive problems and discussed by the<br />

company prior to several of the statements alleged as misrepresentations and that even though<br />

circumstantial, plaintiffs evidence alleged in complaint was sufficient to give rise to a strong<br />

inference of scienter.<br />

Brown v. Schwartzberg, 2011 WL 5599214 (M.D. La. Nov. 16, 2011).<br />

Defendants brought a counter-complaint of fraud against plaintiff under the Securities<br />

Exchange Act of 1934. The court found that the allegations in defendant’s counter-complaint<br />

were vague and lacking factual specificity as to particular misleading statements, information, or<br />

misrepresentations and the source of said statements, information or misrepresentations and<br />

therefore, failed generally and under the PSLRA to connect the allegations of fraud to any<br />

specific statement, document or alleged fact. The court required defendants to amend their<br />

counter-complaint to allege with specificity any claim pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of<br />

1934.<br />

Wu v. Tang, 2011 WL 145259 (N.D. Tex. Jan. 14, 2011).<br />

Plaintiffs brought class action suit against defendants alleging violations of federal<br />

securities laws and defendants moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim as required under the<br />

heightened pleading requirements of the PSLRA. Plaintiffs claim that defendants operated a<br />

Ponzi-like scheme targeting members of the Chinese-American community to obtain direct and<br />

indirect investments in the Oversea China Fund and made material misrepresentations to deceive<br />

plaintiffs and influence their decisions to invest. The court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss<br />

finding that plaintiffs failed to sufficient particularize facts showing defendants made fraudulent<br />

misrepresentations to investors. Further, the court found that plaintiffs failed to show specific<br />

acts raising the requisite scienter and, similarly to the alleged misleading statements, relied on<br />

over generalizations rather than specific statements or actions or other facts.<br />

Hopson v. MetroPCS Communications, Inc., 2011 WL 1119727 (N.D.Tex. Mar. 25, 2011).<br />

Plaintiff brought suit against defendants alleging violations of federal securities laws and<br />

defendants filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim as required under the heightened<br />

pleading standards of the PSLRA. Plaintiffs claimed losses sustained after purchasing shares of<br />

defendant company’s stock at artificially inflated prices resulting from the defendants’ materially<br />

false, misleading, and reckless statements and omissions regarding company’s business<br />

prospects. The court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss finding that plaintiff had not pleaded<br />

sufficient facts to support a strong inference of scienter and that even if plaintiff had adequately<br />

D.1<br />

D.1<br />

D.1<br />

151

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