The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It is most well known as a money transfer service.
According to the law firm press release, the lawsuit alleges throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Western Union’s fraud prevention efforts did not comply with applicable laws; (2) Western Union willfully failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program; (3) Western Union aided and abetted wire fraud; (4) for at least five years, Western Union knew of agents structuring transactions designed to avoid the reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act; (5) Western Union was not compliant with its regulatory responsibilities; (6) between 2004 and 2012, Western Union violated U.S. laws—the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-fraud statutes—by processing hundreds of thousands of transactions for Western Union agents and others involved in an international consumer fraud scheme; (7) Western Union knew of but failed to take corrective action against Western Union agents involved in or facilitating fraud-related transactions; (8) between January 1, 2004 and August 29, 2015, Western Union received at least 550,928 complaints about fraud-induced money transfers, totaling at least $632,721,044; and (9) as a result, Defendants’ public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.
On October 5, 2017, the first identified case was voluntarily dismissed by Plaintiff. A related action continues in the District of Colorado under 17-CV-00474.
On November 6, 2017, Lead Plaintiff filed a Consolidated amended Complaint. Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss the consolidated amended Complaint on January 16, 2018. On March 27, 2019, the Court issued an Order granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss and dismissed the case with prejudice. On April 26, Lead Plaintiff filed a notice appealing the Court's dismissal Order and Final Judgment. On February 25, 2020, the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's dismissal Order.
