ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605130065
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
More than 17 months after ending a lawsuit in which former Dominion Bankshares Corp. shareholders argued they were misled about buying the company's stock, lawyers have petitioned to distribute the $3 million settlement.
Lawyers representing former Dominion stockholders on Friday petitioned the U.S. District Court in Roanoke for permission to distribute funds as part of settlement of the suit.
The papers filed in the case said the value of the settlement fund on May 30 will be about $3,012,000. Stockholders will owe taxes on interest earned by the money during the last year, and that money will be withheld from the distribution.
The petition to the court did not say exactly when the money will be distributed.
The lawyers told the court that they received 3,092 claims. Of this number, 2,685 were found valid and 236 were rejected. The other 171 either have not submitted required documents or were due only a partial settlement.
The civil suit brought by several stockholders was settled Dec. 8, 1994, by First Union Corp., a Charlotte, N.C., company, which in 1993 acquired Dominion, a Roanoke-based bank. The court approved the settlement in March 1995, and claim forms were mailed to some former Dominion stockholders shortly afterward.
Members of the legal class of people eligible to share in the settlement funds were those who purchased Dominion stock between March 6, 1989, and July 17, 1990. The plaintiffs contended that they were misled into buying the stock because bank officials failed to disclose its financial problems.
At the time the court approved the settlement in 1995, the judge awarded a fee of $1,750,000 to the plaintiffs' attorneys. The lawyers also received another $281,109.52 for expenses and litigation costs.
LENGTH: Short : 42 linesby CNB