Apr 3, 2020 | Whistleblower
SEC Awards Approximately $2 Million to Whistleblower – SEC Has Awarded $398 Million To 78 Individuals, Since Issuing First Whistleblower Award
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making individuals aware that on April 3, 2020, the SEC announced an award of approximately $2 million to a whistleblower who provided vital information and assistance that substantially contributed to an ongoing investigation. The whistleblower’s information would have been difficult for the SEC to obtain absent the tip.
The SEC has awarded over $398 million to 78 individuals since issuing its first award in 2012. All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators. No money has been taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards. Whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with original, timely, and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action. Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected when the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million.
As set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that could reveal a whistleblower’s identity.
Source: SEC.gov
Apr 3, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Marriott International, Inc. – Compromised Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) Improperly Accessed As Early as Mid-January 2020 – Alleged Failure to Implement Adequate and Reasonable Cyber-Security Procedures and Protocols Necessary to Protect Hotel Guests’ PII
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware that a class action lawsuit was filed against Marriott International, Inc. (“Marriott”) in United States District Court, District of Maryland, as a result of Marriott International’s recent data breach which compromised the PII of approximately 5.2 million guests.
According to the complaint:
On March 31, 2020, Marriott announced that the login credentials of two of its employees had been compromised and ‘an unexpected amount of guest information’ had been improperly accessed as early as mid-January 2020. The compromised guest PII included: Contact Details (e.g., name, mailing address, email address, and phone number); Loyalty Account Information (e.g., account number and points balance, but not passwords); Additional Personal Details (e.g., company, gender, and birthday day and month); Partnerships and Affiliations (e.g., linked airline loyalty programs and numbers); and Preferences (e.g., stay/room preferences and language preference) (“Data Breach”).
. . .
This Data Breach was a direct result of Marriott’s failure to implement adequate and reasonable cyber-security procedures and protocols necessary to protect its guests’ PII.
Marriott disregarded the rights of Plaintiff and Class Members . . . by, inter alia, intentionally, willfully, recklessly, or negligently failing to take adequate and reasonable measures to ensure their data systems were protected against unauthorized intrusions; failing to disclose that it did not have adequately robust computer systems and security practices to safeguard guest PII; failing to take standard and reasonably available steps to prevent the Data Breach; failing to monitor and timely detect the Data Breach; and failing to provide Plaintiff and Class Members with prompt and accurate notice of the Data Breach.
[Emphasis added.]
Have You Been Impacted by A Data Breach?
If so, please either contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C., Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], complete the form on the right or e-mail [email protected] for a free, no-obligation case evaluation of your facts to determine whether your privacy rights have been violated and whether there is a basis for a data privacy class action.
Examples of the type of relief sought by data privacy class actions, include, but are not limited to, reimbursement of identity theft losses and of out-of-pocket costs paid by data breach victims for protective measures such as credit monitoring services, credit reports, and credit freezes; compensation for time spent responding to the breach; imposition of credit monitoring services and identity theft insurance, paid for by the defendant company; and improvements to the defendant company’s data security systems.
Data privacy class actions are brought on a contingent-fee basis; thus, plaintiffs and the class members do not pay out-of-pocket attorney’s fees or litigation costs. Subject to court approval, attorney’s fees and litigation costs are derived from the recovery obtained for the class.
Apr 3, 2020 | Securities Class Action Archive
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Mesa Air Group, Inc. On Behalf of Individuals Who Purchased, Or Otherwise Acquired, Securities of Mesa Air Group Pursuant And/Or Traceable to The Registration Statement and Related Prospectus Issued In Connection With Mesa Air Group’s August 2018 Initial Public Offering – Mesa Air Group Investors Who Purchased, Or Otherwise Acquired, MESA Securities Pursuant to the IPO Encouraged to Contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making investors aware that a class action lawsuit was filed in United States District Court, District of Arizona, against Mesa Air Group, Inc. (“Mesa Air Group” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: MESA) on behalf of persons who purchased, or otherwise acquired, Mesa Air Group’s securities pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and related prospectus (collectively, the “Registration Statement”) issued in connection with Mesa Air Group’s August 2018 initial public offering (“IPO”) to recover compensable damages caused by the Mesa Air Group Defendants’ alleged violations of the Securities Act of 1933.
According to the complaint, the Mesa Air Group Defendants issued materially false and/or misleading statements, because they misrepresented and failed to disclose adverse facts pertaining to the Company’s business, operational and financial results, which were known to Defendants or recklessly disregarded by them. Specifically, the Mesa Air Group Defendants, allegedly, made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Mesa Air Group’s operational performance was poor and below industry standards; (2) Mesa Air Group had a shortage of qualified mechanics and maintenance personnel; (3) Mesa Air Group had an inadequate number of spare aircraft and parts; (4) Mesa Air Group did not have a strong track record of reliable performance; (5) then-existing “risks” had already materialized; (6) Mesa Air Group knew of undisclosed adverse trends and uncertainties at the time of the IPO; and (7) as a result, the Mesa Air Group Defendants’ public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
Investors who purchased, or otherwise acquired, Mesa Air Group securities pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and related prospectus issued in connection with Mesa Air Group’s August 2018 IPO are encouraged to contact either Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], [email protected], or John Kehoe, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 801, [email protected], to discuss the class action lawsuit or potential legal claims.
Apr 3, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive
FTC Information About Government Relief Checks Related to the Coronavirus Health Crisis
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making individuals aware of recent guidance provided by the FTC to help ensure that scammers and fraudsters do not take advantage of people expecting government relief checks. According to the FTC:
- You don’t need to do anything. As long as you filed taxes for 2018 and/or 2019, the federal government likely has the information it needs to send you your money. Social Security recipients and railroad retirees who are otherwise not required to file a tax return also do not need to do anything to receive their money. If you otherwise have not filed taxes recently, you may need to submit a simple tax return to get your check. (More on who’s eligible here.)
- Do not give anyone your personal information to “sign-up” for your relief check. There is nothing to sign up for. Anyone calling to ask for your personal information, like your Social Security number, PayPal account, or bank information is a scammer, plain and simple. Also be on the lookout for email phishing scams, where scammers pretend to be from the government and ask for your information as part of the “sign-up” process for the checks.
- To set up direct deposit of your check, communicate only with the IRS at irs.gov/coronavirus. And you only need to do this if you didn’t give the IRS your bank information on your 2018 or 2019 return. In the coming weeks, the IRS will be setting up an online form available through irs.gov/coronavirus. But nowhere else, and never in response to an email, text, or call.
- No one has early access to this money. Anyone that claims to is a scammer. The timeline for this process is not exact, but it looks like funds will start going out in the next few weeks. Scammers are using the lack of detail to try to trick people into giving their personal information and money.
The FTC recommends visiting the IRS page on economic impact payments to get official updates and more information.
Source: Federal Trade Commisssion – FTC.gov
Apr 3, 2020 | Securities Class Action Archive
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Luckin Coffee on Behalf of Luckin Coffee Investors Who Purchased, or Otherwise Acquired, LK Securities Between May 17, 2019 and April 2, 2020, Both Dates Inclusive – Luckin Coffee Investors Who Suffered Losses Encouraged to Contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.
Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making investors aware that on April 2, 2020, Luckin Coffee, Inc. (“Luckin Coffee” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: LK) disclosed that an internal investigation found that the Company’s COO and several employees reporting to him engaged in certain misconduct, including fabricating sales transactions from the second quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2019 in an amount of approximately RMB2.2 billion.
Luckin Coffee also reported that certain costs and expenses were also substantially inflated by fabricated transactions during the same period. Luckin Coffee advised investors to no longer rely upon the Company’s previous financial statements and earning releases for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and the two quarters starting April 1, 2019 and ended September 30, 2019, including the prior guidance on net revenues from products for the fourth quarter of 2019, and other communications relating to these consolidated financial statements.
On this news, Luckin Coffee American Depositary Shares (“ADS”) plummeted $19.80 per ADS, or approximately 75.6%, to close $6.40 per ADS on April 2, 2020, thereby damaging investors.
On April 2, 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, on behalf of persons or entities who: (1) purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded Luckin Coffee securities from May 17, 2019 through April 2, 2020, inclusive (the “Class Period”); (2) purchased or otherwise acquired Luckin Coffee ADSs in or traceable to the Company’s public offering of ADSs conducted on or around May 17, 2019 (the “IPO”); and/or (3) purchased or otherwise acquired Luckin ADSs in or traceable to the Company’s public offering of ADSs conducted on or around January 10, 2020. The class action seeks to recover compensable damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Luckin Coffee investors who purchased, or otherwise acquired, LK securities and suffered losses are encouraged to contact either Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], [email protected], or John Kehoe, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 801, [email protected], to discuss the securities investigation or potential legal claims.
