NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gainey McKenna & Egleston announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against The Western Union Company (“Western Union” or the “Company”) (NYSE:WU) in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Western Union stock between February 24, 2012 and January 19, 2017, inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants’ violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The Complaint alleges that Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Western Union’s fraud prevention efforts did not comply with applicable laws; (2) Western Union knowingly failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program; (3) Western Union aided and abetted wire fraud; (4) for at least five years, Western Union knew of agents structuring transactions designed to avoid the reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act; (5) Western Union was not compliant with its regulatory responsibilities; (6) between 2004 and 2012, Western Union violated U.S. laws — the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-fraud statutes—by processing hundreds of thousands of transactions for Western Union agents and others involved in an international consumer fraud scheme; (7) Western Union knew of but failed to take corrective action against Western Union agents involved in or facilitating fraud-related transactions; (8) from January 1, 2004 and August 29, 2015, Western Union received at least 550,928 complaints about fraud-induced money transfers, totaling at least $632,721,044; and (9) consequently, Defendants’ public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On January 19, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission publicized that Western Union admitted to “aiding and abetting wire fraud” by allowing scammers to process transactions even when Western Union realized its agents were disguising transactions to avoid detection and therefore settled to pay $586 million. Following this news, Western Union stock dropped 3.30% to close at $21.13 per share on January 19, 2017.
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than March 27, 2017. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. If you wish to join the litigation, or to discuss your rights or interests regarding this class action, please contact Thomas J. McKenna, Esq. or Gregory M. Egleston, Esq. of Gainey McKenna & Egleston at (212) 983-1300, or via e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected].
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