Lawsuit Overview
June 9, 2016 - The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's judgement. The case was dismissed.
October 19, 2015 - A notice of appeal was filed.
September 29, 2015 - The court granted defendants' motion to dismiss.
September 8, 2014 - A second consolidated amended complaint was filed.
July 7, 2014 - A consolidated amended complaint was filed.
February 4, 2014 - An investor in shares of AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ: AFSI) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against AmTrust Financial Services Inc over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between February 15, 2011 and December 11, 2013.
According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ: AFSI) between February 15, 2011 and December 11, 2013, that AmTrust Financial Services Inc and certain of its officers and directors violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.
More specifically, the plaintiff claims that defendants made allegedly false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that AmTrust Financial Services Inc manipulated its loan loss reserves in order to inflate reported earnings, that AmTrust Financial Services Inc manipulated its deferred tax liabilities, that AmTrust Financial Services Inc underestimated the discount rates for its life settlement contracts in an effort to inflate the Company's reported assets and total stockholder's equity, that AmTrust Financial Services Inc lacked adequate internal and financial controls, and that as a result of the foregoing, AmTrust Financial Services Inc 's statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
AmTrust Financial Services Inc reported that its annual Total Revenue rose from $740.21 million in 2009 to over $1.86 billion in 2012 and that its respective Net Income increased from $103.22 million to $177.28 million.
On December 12, 2013, a report was published that alleged that AmTrust Financial Services Inc has long exaggerated its true financial condition by, among other things, excluding losses of its wholly-owned subsidiaries in its SEC filings, failing to disclose a total of $276.9 million in losses transferred to its Luxembourg subsidiaries from 2009 to 2012, mismarking its life settlement contracts by using overly aggressive assumptions relative to its peers despite records showing AmTrust Financial Services Inc holds many policies that are likely worthless, and stating different accounts in its press releases than those reported in SEC filings. The report also raised numerous other red flags of fraud at AmTrust Financial Services Inc that called into question the veracity of AmTrust Financial Services Inc’s public disclosures to investors.
The same day, AmTrust Financial Services Inc issued a statement and reported strong financial outlook. AmTrust Financial Services Inc said that the fundamental outlook for AmTrust Financial Services Inc remains positive and is responding to negative comments produced by a report circulated by parties that have a vested interest in the common shares of AmTrust Financial Services Inc's declining in value.
Shares of AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ: AFSI) declined from over $41.81 per share on November 29, 2013 to as low as $28.62 per share on December 18, 2013.
On February 4, 2014, AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ: AFSI) shares closed at $31.69 per share.