South African gold mining group DRDGold confirmed on Friday that a class action lawsuit had been filed in the United States against the company, its chief executive, Mark Wellesley-Wood, and chief financial officer, Ian Louis Murray.
The lawsuit was filed on June 13 2005 and is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of DRDGold Limited securities. The lawsuit alleges that the company made certain false and misleading statements between October 23 2003 and February 24 2005 in violation of provisions of the United States securities laws.
Two similar suits have also reportedly been filed.
“DRDGold and its officers have not been served with legal process for the lawsuits but expect to be served in the future. The company is in the process of selecting and engaging legal counsel to defend against the suits,” the company said.
“DRDGold, Mr Wellesley-Wood and Mr Murray deny the claims that have reportedly been made in the lawsuits, believe the suits to be entirely without merit and intend vigorously to defend against the allegations of the lawsuits,” it added.
DRDGold anticipates that the three class action lawsuits, and any other similar lawsuits, will be consolidated and proceed as a single litigation.
“Accordingly, DRDGold does not intend separately to announce the filing of any other such lawsuits.” -I-Net Bridge