Five of the 11 defendants in an alleged $20.5 million mortgage fraud scheme purportedly involving former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Eugene Lockhart have pleaded guilty.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Dallas said Wednesday that four of the defendants have entered guilty pleas or are scheduled to do so this month. A fifth defendant pleaded guilty in February.

Lockhart and the remaining five defendants opted for a trial. An Oct. 18 trial date was postponed and hasn't been reset.

Lockhart and the others are accused of making 54 fraudulent loan closings for single-family homes in the Dallas area totaling about $20.5 million.

The 49-year-old Lockhart, who lives in suburban Carrollton, is on supervised released.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said on Wednesday it will vigorously defend a class action suit by customers for recovery of bank fees.

Earlier class-action law firm Maurice Blackburn said it would file a $48 million class action suit against ANZ, with up to 11 other lenders at risk of similar suits in the future.

The suit is against exception fees, which include charges for insufficient funds, overdrawn bank or credit card accounts and late credit card payments.

"We recognised that these fees were unpopular with customers. This is why we took action to simplify fees," the CEO for its Australian operations Philip Chronican said in a statement.

A class-action lawsuit against Airbus and Northrop Grumman has been filed in the US by attorneys acting on behalf of passengers and crew injured in a serious incident involving a Qantas Airbus A330-300 in 2008.

The lawsuit is being led by a US law firm following contact from Australian law firms which will represent passengers and crew injured when A330 VH-QPA plunged over 1000ft in two uncommanded dives while on a flight from Singapore to Perth on October 7 2008, forcing the crew to make a mayday call and an emergency landing at Learmonth. The latest interim report from the ATSB suggests that the uncommanded dives may have been caused by erroneous data inputs from a faulty air data inertial reference unit (ADIRU), which was manufactured by Northrop Grumman.

Airbus has already moved an application to have the case heard in Australia rather than the US, with some commentators noting that Australian laws would not allow people to claim the same level of compensation as in the US. Currently, it appears that the trial will be heard in the US.

The Shuman Law Firm today announced that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Corinthian Colleges, Inc.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights and interests with respect to this matter, please contact Kip B. Shuman or Rusty E. Glenn toll free at (866) 974-8626 or email Mr. Shuman at kip@shumanlawfirm.com or Mr. Glenn at rusty@shumanlawfirm.com.

The Complaint charges that Corinthian and certain of its officers and directors violated federal securities laws by making a series of materially false and misleading statements. Specifically, the Complaint alleges defendants failed to disclose: (i) Corinthian overstated its growth prospects by engaging in illicit and improper recruiting activities, which also had the effect of artificially inflating the Company's reported results and future growth prospects; (ii) the Company's financial results were overstated in that the Company's colleges inflated tuition costs and its student loan repayment rates were well below levels required for participation in federal loan programs; (iii) Corinthian failed to maintain adequate systems of internal operational or financial controls; and (iv) based on the foregoing, defendants lacked a basis for their positive statements about the Company, its prospects and growth.

If you purchased Corinthian common stock during the Class Period, you may request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff of the class no later than November 1, 2010. A lead plaintiff is a class member that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Although your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision whether or not to seek appointment as a lead plaintiff, lead plaintiffs make important decisions which could affect the overall recovery for class members.

The Shuman Law Firm represents investors throughout the nation, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative actions.

The Shuman Law Firm
Kip B. Shuman, Esq., 866-974-8626
kip@shumanlawfirm.com
or
Rusty E. Glenn, Esq., 866-974-8626
rusty@shumanlawfirm.com
Fax: 303-484-4886
www.shumanlawfirm.com

Hemispherx Biopharma agreed Tuesday to settle all of the pending securities class actions against the biotechnology company that had been consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The proposed settlement requires formal court approval.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Hemispherx (AMEX:HEB) of Philadelphia said the settlement will be paid from the company's insurance coverage and will not result in the payment of any funds by the company. The company said the settlement “expressly is not an admission of any culpability by Hemispherx or its officers.”

The series of lawsuits, according to documents Hemispherx filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleged the company and certain officers misrepresented the status of Hemispherx’s new drug application for Ampligen, an experimental treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome the company has worked on for more than three decades.

Last November, the FDA rejected the company’s new drug application for Ampligen and recommended the company conduct additional studies to demonstrate effectiveness. Hemispherx has stated it is continuing to work with the FDA to address the issues raised by the agency.

http://www.stockdestiny.com/entry/Hemispherx-Biopharma-settles-class-action-securities-lawsuits