COMPANY |
Caterpillar, Inc. |
COURT |
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois |
CASE NUMBER |
17-cv-1713 |
JUDGE |
The Honorable Sharon Johnson Coleman |
CLASS PERIOD |
February 19, 2013 and March 1, 2017 |
SECURITY TYPE |
All Securities |
Case Background:
According to the complaint, Caterpillar designs, manufactures, and markets construction, mining, and forestry machinery. The company also manufactures engines and other related parts for its equipment, and offers financing and insurance. Caterpillar distributes its products through a worldwide organization of dealers.
The Class Period commences on February 19, 2013, when Caterpillar filed an annual report on Form 10-K announcing the company’s financial and operating results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2012.
The complaint alleges that, on March 2, 2017, law enforcement officials executing a search warrant searched the company’s headquarters in Peoria, Illinois. The Peoria Journal Star newspaper reported, in part, “Federal officials seized documents and electronic records from three Caterpillar Inc. facilities, including the global headquarters Downtown, on Thursday as an apparent part of a criminal investigation into the company's tax strategy.” The newspaper further reported, “The investigation appears to stem from revelations about the company’s tax strategy as outlined in a 2009 federal wrongful termination lawsuit brought by Daniel Schlicksup. The lawsuit alleged the company shifted profits overseas and to offshore shell companies to avoid paying more than $2 billion in U.S. taxes.”
On that same day, it was further reported that the federal government agencies involved included the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) Criminal Investigation Unit, the U.S. Department of Commerce Office Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Export Enforcement and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General.
Following this news, Caterpillar’s share price fell $4.22, or 4.28%, to close at $94.36 per share on March 2, 2017.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Caterpillar unlawfully used foreign subsidiaries to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes; (ii) discovery of the foregoing conduct would subject the company to heightened regulatory scrutiny and potential criminal sanctions; and (iii) as a result of the foregoing, Caterpillar’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
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