The GEO Group (NYSE: GEO)
A class action has been commenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on behalf of purchasers of The GEO Group (NYSE: GEO) common stock during the period between March 1, 2012 and August 17, 2016 (the “Class Period”).
The complaint charges GEO and certain of its officers with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. GEO provides government-outsourced services, including the management of correctional, detention and re-entry facilities and the provision of community-based services and youth services in the United States, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada.
The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding the Company's business and prospects, including that: (i) GEO's facilities lacked adequate safety and security standards and were less efficient at offering correctional services than the facilities operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP"); (ii) GEO's rehabilitative services for inmates were less effective than those provided by the BOP; and (iii) the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") was unlikely to renew and/or extend its contracts with GEO. As a result of these false statements and/or omissions, GEO securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, with its stock price reaching a high of over $45 per share.
On or around August 11, 2016, the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General issued a report entitled “Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Monitoring of Contract Prisons” (the “Review”), which found that “in most key areas, contract prisons [including GEO’s] incurred more safety and security incidents per capita than comparable BOP institutions.”
Then on August 18, 2016, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced, based on the Review, the DOJ's decision to end its use of private prisons, including those operated by GEO, concluding that the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services than those run by the BOP. Deputy Attorney General Yates stated in a memorandum to the Acting Director of the BOP that private prisons “do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the [DOJ’s] Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security.” In conclusion, Ms. Yates stated that, “[f]or all these reasons, I am eager to enlist your help in beginning the process of reducing – and ultimately ending – our use of privately operated prisons.” On this news, GEO's share price fell $12.78 per share, or nearly 40%, to close at $19.51 per share on August 18, 2016.
On August 19, 2016, GEO issued a press release announcing that the BOP had extended its contract with GEO for the D. Ray James Correctional Facility in Georgia through September 30, 2018. That same day, less than three hours later, GEO issued another press release announcing that the BOP had rescinded its extension of the D. Ray James Correctional Facility contract.
If you are a current shareholder and/or purchased stock between March 1, 2012 and August 17, 2016, and would like to discuss your options of exercising your rights as a shareholder, please contact us.
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