On August 15, 2012, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP filed a
class action lawsuit in the United States District Court, Northern
District of Illinois, on behalf of all persons who purchased Lime Energy
Co., Inc. common stock (“Lime Energy” or the “Company”) [NASDAQ:LIME]
between May 14, 2010 and July 17, 2012, inclusive (the “Class Period”),
against the Company and certain of the Company’s officers and directors,
alleging securities fraud pursuant to Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the
Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 78j(b) and 78t(a)] and Rule 10b-5 promulgated
thereunder by the SEC [17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5] (the “Class”).
The case name is Galbraith v. Lime Energy Co., Inc., et al.,
Civil Action No. 12-cv-6465. A copy of the complaint filed in this
action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the Wolf
Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP website at www.whafh.com.
During the Class Period, Lime Energy issued materially false and
misleading statements and omitted to state material facts that rendered
their affirmative statements misleading as they related to the Company’s
financial performance, business prospects, and financial condition. As a
result of these materially false and misleading statements, the price of
the Company’s securities was artificially inflated during the Class
Period. As the truth of the Company’s materially false and misleading
statements entered the market, the Company’s stock plummeted.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made
materially false and misleading statements and/or material omissions,
that were in effect throughout the Class Period, regarding the Company’s
business, operational and accounting practices, by failing to disclose,
among other things, that: (i) the Company’s financial statements during
the Class Period did not accurately state the Company’s financial
condition and operations, including that they did not accurately state
the Company’s revenue and earnings; (ii) as a result, the Company’s
financial results were not prepared in accordance with Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”); and (iii) the Company lacked
adequate internal and financial controls.
On July 17, 2012, the Company made an SEC filing on Form 8-K that made
several stunning admissions. The Company’s SEC filing admitted, based
upon the results of a partial internal review, that: (i) a portion of
the Company’s revenue was improperly recorded – as a result of recording
non-existent revenue and/or recording revenue earlier than it should
have been recorded; and (ii) the Company’s previously issued financial
statements on Form 10-K for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2010 and
December 31, 2011, and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period
ended March 31, 2012, “may no longer be relied upon” and the
misreporting may “require restatement of all of the affected financial
statements.”
The fact that Lime announced that it will restate its financial
statements in effect during the Class Period, and informed investors
that these financial statements should not be relied upon is an
admission that they were materially false and misleading when originally
issued.
When the truth began to emerge with Lime’s July 17, 2012 Form 8-K
disclosure, the Company’s stock price plummeted $0.91 from its prior
trading day close of $2.03 to close on July 17, 2012 at $1.12—a stunning
decline of over 44% on unusually heavy trading volume.
If you purchased Lime Energy common stock during the Class Period, you
may request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff by September
18, 2012. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf
of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be
appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class
member’s claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that
the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain
circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as “lead
plaintiff.” Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however,
affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.
You may retain Wolf Haldenstein, or other counsel of your choice, to
serve as your counsel in this action.
Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of
securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal
trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has
approximately 70 attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in
Chicago, New York City, and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of
this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly
recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in
complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions, please contact
Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP at 270 Madison Avenue, New
York, New York 10016, by telephone at (800) 575-0735 (Gregory M.
Nespole, Esq., Robert B. Weintraub, Esq., or Derek Behnke), via e-mail
at classmember@whafh.com or
visit our website at www.whafh.com.
All e-mail correspondence should make reference to Lime Energy.
