A lawsuit filed against Wachovia Corp. and its affiliates charges them with causing shareholder losses through incorrect valuations on now-defunct bond shares and risky investments, the latest in a rising sea of securities-related litigation.
Investors sued Wachovia Corp and its affiliates yesterday, charging them with causing losses through the incorrect valuation of a now-defunct bond fund’s shares and making risky investments in the fund, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit against Wachovia, two of its affiliates and two group executives follow lawsuits related to bond-fund losses filed against against Fidelity Investments, State Street Corp., Charles Schwab and others.
Investors Albert Krantzberg and Irene Krantzberg claimed in the suit filed in a federal court in Boston that the fourth-largest U.S. bank and the other defendants “incorrectly” valued and sold the shares of the Evergreen Ultra Short Opportunities Fund “at an artificially inflated price” between August 2007 and June 2008, according to Reuters.
Wachovia and Evergreen Investments, the money management arm of the bank, declined to comment on the charges.
Besides Wachovia, the suit also names as defendants Evergreen Fixed Income Trust, Evergreen Distributor Inc., Dennis Ferro, chief executive of Evergreen Investments, and Kasey Phillips, principal financial officer of the trust. The suit seeks class-action status.