Oct. 23, 2012 (Shareholders Foundation) -- An investigation on behalf of former and current employees of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) was announced concerning potential breaches of fiduciary duties by certain officers and directors at Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

The investigation by a law firm concerns whether certain Universal Technical Institute officers and directors have possibly breached their fiduciary duties and whether Universal Technical Institute, Inc. potentially violated compensation laws.

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) disclosed that the United States Department of Justice has notified the Universal Technical Institute Inc that they are the subject of a preliminary investigation concerning Federal False Claims Act claims. A former employee alleges that Universal Technical Institutes compensation of its enrollment counselors violated the incentive compensation ban of Title IV of the Higher Education Act, amongst other potential violations allegedly occurring over a number of years. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. said that the same former employee also filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) alleging retaliatory employment practices in violation of the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) reported that its Total Revenue increased from $343.46 million for the 12 months period that ended on Sept. 30, 2008 to $451.90 million for the 12 months period that ended on September 30, 2011 and its Net Income over the respective time periods rose from $8.22 million to $27.24 million.

Shares of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) rose from as low as $9.15 per share in March 2009 to as high as $26.06 per share in March 2010. Since then NYSE:UTI declined and traded for the most part of the first six months in 2012 under $14 per share.

On October 23, 2012, NYSE:UTI shares closed at $13.12 per share.