Sinclair execs accused of insider trading

[quaoar]

There are allegations that insiders at Sinclair dumped more than $18 million in stock just before they made their decision on the anti-Kerry movie.

http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2004/10/18/daily16.html

Sinclair hurt pension fund investors, law firm claims

Julekha Dash
Staff

A California law firm is challenging Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. on behalf of pension fund investors who it says suffered financial losses as a result of three officers allegedly engaging in insider trading.

Sinclair Broadcasting has inspired a firestorm of controversy since it announced it would require nearly all of its 62 stations to air a program critical of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

San Diego, Calif., law firm Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP has sent a demand letter to officers at the Hunt Valley firm on behalf of its pension fund clients. "There is insider trading at a time when the company is experiencing troubles," said attorney William S. Lerach in a conference call with reporters. "The board and officers should be focusing on creating shareholder value, not pressing a controversial personal political agenda at shareholders' expense."

After waiting a "reasonable period of time" to get a response from Sinclair's board of directors, Lerach Coughlin plans to file what is known as a "stockholder derivative lawsuit," which is taken against a corporation's directors for allegedly breaching fiduciary duty. Lerach Coughlin is as of yet unsure where it will file the lawsuit, but said it would most likely be in a state court in Maryland, Washington D.C., or New York.