A class action lawsuit was filed against Aon Corporation on behalf of shareholders who purchased Aon securities, including common stock, between October 31, 2002 and October 18, 2004, the law firm Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP said on Monday in a press release.
The lawsuit, filed U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, comes just two weeks after New York General Attorney Eliot Spitzer filed a lawsuit against Marsh & McLennan in which he accused the insurance industry of price fixing.
The complaint alleges that Aon and its top officers violated the federal securities laws by disseminating false and misleading statements concerning the Company’s results and operations.
On October 14, 2004, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced he had charged several of the nation’s largest insurance companies and the largest broker with bid rigging and pay-offs that he claimed violated fraud and competition laws. Upon revelation of these illegal acts, the Aon’s shares fell to $23.03, a loss of 16%. Then on October 19, 2004, The Wall Street Journal published an article on Spitzer’s investigation of Aon, which stated that the reinsurance business, or insurance policies for insurance companies, was the focus of the probe, because Spitzer suspected Aon’s insurance-buying clients may not have received the best deal. On these revelations, the Company’s shares fell again, from $21.20 to $19.20, a drop of 9%, Lerach said in a press release.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Aon publicly traded securities during the Class Period.
(via Business Wire)
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