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White Collar Justice
Feb. 20th, 2013 12:04 amI got one of these class action suit things in the mail today. There's a four-page description of what's going on which could use a lot of editing. It tells you such useless things as "I. Purpose of this Notice / The purpose of this Distribution Plan Notice is to inform you..." I already knew that the purpose of the notice was to inform me of something. Also, "PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY."
It's also a bit repetitive. For example, it says "no later than May 25, 2013" (p. 1), "THE DEADLINE ... IS MAY 25, 2O13" (p. 4), and "NO LATER THAN MAY 25, 2013" (later on p. 4).
I really can't stand reading it. It basically says that a certain computer company that rhymes with "Sell" was accused of cooking the books, and no one's judging them about this or admitting any sort of guilt, but "the defendants"* had to gather up over a hundred million bucks and some commission was allowed to propose a plan to distribute these bucks but instead they got some distribution agent to do it.
*Some googling showed me that the company paid this money though the accused executives did have to pay fines on the order of $3 - 4 million each.
Some people may not need to file a claim order and some people do in order to have a chance to be an eligible claimant of something or other, oh, the "Eligible Loss Amount," of which there is no guarantee, even if you meet all the criteria. For a description of the plan and the criteria, I can read Exhibit A, which did not come in the envelope, but is available as a four-page PDF online.
First, Exhibit A reminds me of the deadline again. And it says that if I made a profit when I sold the stocks in question, I am not eligible. (Even though it is possible that I should have made an even higher profit.) If I suffered a loss, I am eligible to receive the amount of that loss up to a given limit, based on when I bought and sold the stocks (there's a chart). I'm guessing that when news came out on various days back then about this, it was accompanied by some sort of plummeting, and the limit is based on some measure of the amount of that plummeting.
Back to the envelope, there's also a six-page form, including a table of contents (wha?) and two more reminders of the deadline. And you also have to submit proof (such as copies of statements from your broker) of all the relevant balances and transactions. The period of interest ranges from 5/3/01 to 8/18/06, so if you toss your statements after only seven years for tax reasons and you can't get copies from your broker, you're not eligible.
If too many people make claims, those claimants will get only a proportion of their eligible losses. If not enough people make claims, I don't know who gets the money. But I'm betting it's the same people who know to send me the information and yet insist they have no clue when I bought and sold stocks or for how much unless I send them statements and fill out the form in all caps in black or dark blue ink.
Am I eligible? If so, what is my guestimate of the amount I could receive? Will I do all the paperwork or let this distribution agent just keep the money because I don't want to deal with all the crap?
I should have all my old statements in with my tax forms, which I've kept forever. But it's midnight. So, find out the answers in the next installment!
It's also a bit repetitive. For example, it says "no later than May 25, 2013" (p. 1), "THE DEADLINE ... IS MAY 25, 2O13" (p. 4), and "NO LATER THAN MAY 25, 2013" (later on p. 4).
I really can't stand reading it. It basically says that a certain computer company that rhymes with "Sell" was accused of cooking the books, and no one's judging them about this or admitting any sort of guilt, but "the defendants"* had to gather up over a hundred million bucks and some commission was allowed to propose a plan to distribute these bucks but instead they got some distribution agent to do it.
*Some googling showed me that the company paid this money though the accused executives did have to pay fines on the order of $3 - 4 million each.
Some people may not need to file a claim order and some people do in order to have a chance to be an eligible claimant of something or other, oh, the "Eligible Loss Amount," of which there is no guarantee, even if you meet all the criteria. For a description of the plan and the criteria, I can read Exhibit A, which did not come in the envelope, but is available as a four-page PDF online.
First, Exhibit A reminds me of the deadline again. And it says that if I made a profit when I sold the stocks in question, I am not eligible. (Even though it is possible that I should have made an even higher profit.) If I suffered a loss, I am eligible to receive the amount of that loss up to a given limit, based on when I bought and sold the stocks (there's a chart). I'm guessing that when news came out on various days back then about this, it was accompanied by some sort of plummeting, and the limit is based on some measure of the amount of that plummeting.
Back to the envelope, there's also a six-page form, including a table of contents (wha?) and two more reminders of the deadline. And you also have to submit proof (such as copies of statements from your broker) of all the relevant balances and transactions. The period of interest ranges from 5/3/01 to 8/18/06, so if you toss your statements after only seven years for tax reasons and you can't get copies from your broker, you're not eligible.
If too many people make claims, those claimants will get only a proportion of their eligible losses. If not enough people make claims, I don't know who gets the money. But I'm betting it's the same people who know to send me the information and yet insist they have no clue when I bought and sold stocks or for how much unless I send them statements and fill out the form in all caps in black or dark blue ink.
Am I eligible? If so, what is my guestimate of the amount I could receive? Will I do all the paperwork or let this distribution agent just keep the money because I don't want to deal with all the crap?
I should have all my old statements in with my tax forms, which I've kept forever. But it's midnight. So, find out the answers in the next installment!