On September 6, 2017, Pomerantz LLP was appointed Lead Counsel in a class action lawsuit filed against The Western Union Company (“Western Union” or the “Company”) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, District of Colorado, and docketed under 17-cv-00474, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Western Union securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants’ violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The Company operates in three segments: Consumer-to-Consumer, Consumer-to-Business, and Business Solutions.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Western Union’s fraud prevention efforts did not comply with applicable laws; (ii) Western Union willfully failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program; (iii) Western Union aided and abetted wire fraud; (iv) for at least five years, Western Union knew of agents structuring transactions designed to avoid the reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act; (v) Western Union was not compliant with its regulatory responsibilities; (vi) 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; (vii) Western Union knew of but failed to take corrective action against Western Union agents involved in or facilitating fraud-related transactions; (viii) between 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 (ix) as a result of the foregoing, Western Union’s 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 announced that Western Union had agreed to pay $586 million and admitted to “aiding and abetting wire fraud” by allowing scammers to process transactions even when the Company realized that its agents were disguising transactions to avoid detection.
On this news, Western Union’s share price fell $0.87, or 3.9%, over two trading days, to close at $20.98 on January 20, 2017.