NEW YORK, April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Whatley, Drake & Kallas, LLC (WDK) today announced that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina on behalf of purchasers of common stock of Force Protection, Inc. between August 14, 2006 and March 17, 2008, inclusive (the "class period").
Charleston-based Force Protection produces and markets armored vehicles designed to protect their occupants from landmines, hostile fire, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The largest buyer of the Force Protection vehicles is the United States military, including the Army and the Marine Corps. Force Protection also sells its armored vehicles to the Iraqi military and British Ministry of Defense.
The complaint, which was filed April 17, 2008, alleges that Force Protection and several of its current and former executives issued materially false and misleading financial statements that violated the federal securities laws and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") to maintain artificially inflated financial results. The complaint alleges that Force Protection and its officers consistently presented a false and misleading picture of its performance and falsely assured investors that Force Protection was the leader in its product market because of its superior products and on- time delivery capabilities. As alleged in the complaint, however, the true facts were that: (a) Force Protection could not meet its delivery deadlines, (b) Government audits had criticized the Company's financial controls, (c) Force Protection's accounting department lacked the necessary staff and resources to perform its required functions, (d) Force Protection had inadequate internal controls, and (e) Force Protection's financial results for at least the third quarter 2007 were misstated.
On February 29, 2008, Force Protection announced that it would delay the filing of its 2007 Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Force Protection also announced that it would restate financial statements for the period ending September 30, 2007 because of significant accounting errors. On March 17, 2008, Force Protection announced that it would delay for a second time the filing of its 2007 Form 10-K. During the class period, Force Protection stock traded at a high of $30.27 per share. After its true financial situation was disclosed, the price of Force Protection stock plummeted 88 percent from the class period high to a closing price of $3.58 per share on March 3, 2008; Force Protection stock further plummeted on March 17, 2008 to $1.37 per share.
If you are a member of the class described above and wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 9, 2008. Any member of the class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through the counsel of their choice. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact Adam Plant of WDK at 1-800-695-6750 or 1-205-328-9576, or via e-mail at aplant@wdklaw.com.
Whatley, Drake & Kallas, LLC is a national law firm with offices in Birmingham, New York City, and Boston. The Firm's practice is concentrated on complex class action and derivative litigation, including securities, ERISA, 401k, healthcare, insurance, antitrust, mass tort and consumer litigation. The Firm also remains devoted to its longstanding representation of unions and workers throughout the United States and represents several Taft-Hartley plans.
CONTACT: Joe R. Whatley Jr. (205/328-9576)
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