Hagens Berman

Court Denies Sasol’s (NYSE:SSL) Motion to Dismiss Securities Class-Action Lawsuit - Seite 2

“Defendants’ argument utterly fails with respect to the alleged misrepresentations concerning the cost and schedule of the LCCP because ... the complaint alleges with particularity that Sasol’s public cost estimates and projected schedules hugely failed to account for already existing cost overruns and delays the day they were announced,” Judge Rakoff wrote.

On May 4, 2020, Hagens Berman was appointed lead counsel in the case, with Steve Berman, managing partner and co-founder of firm, serving as the lead trial counsel.

“We are pleased with this pro investor decision, which rejects the notion that corporate fraudsters can be immunized from knowingly making false projections to investors by merely including boilerplate cautionary language warning of risks that have already transpired,” Berman said. “This ruling also clears the way for us to begin obtaining discovery and prepare for trial in May 2021, during which we look forward to holding Sasol and its executives accountable for the significant losses they caused their investors.”

The lawsuit alleges that Sasol’s ADRs were artificially inflated because of misrepresentations and omissions about the estimated end-of-job cost and development of the LCCP. When the truth emerged over a series of disclosures, shareholders learned that: (i) the LCCP’s true cost was nearly $13 billion (or more than 60 percent than initially represented); (ii) beneficial operation at the LCCP would not occur until years after Sasol promised; (iii) according to Sasol’s board’s own account, “errors, omissions, and inaccuracies in the project cost estimate” stemmed from “inadequate control procedures,” “inappropriate conduct” and “an improper tone at the top;” (iv) a multitude of Sasol senior executives were fired or otherwise forced to leave; and (v) safety violations and risks materialized with a devastating explosion at the LCCP.

If you purchased Sasol ADRs and suffered significant losses, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Sasol should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email [e-mail].