Plaintiffs who recently saw their shareholder-fraud lawsuit against Top Ships soundly rejected by a US federal judge are now asking a higher court to reconsider the matter.
Shareholders led by Moshe Onel, Amardeep Sidhu and Joel Sofer has filed a notice of appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, according to documents filed with the district court for eastern New York.
The basis for the appeal is not indicated.
As TradeWinds reported on 7 August, in tossing out the suit against Evangelos Pistiolis-led Top Ships, US District Judge Brian M Cogan also ruled there would be no opening for the plaintiffs to lodge a revised complaint.
The judge conceded in the ruling that this was an unusual step, but said he deemed it unlikely that further information could be brought forth that would alter his findings.
The lawsuit had been one of three focused on financing of Greek shipowners by Kalani, a firm based in the British Virgin Islands and controlled by Toronto-based Marc Bistricer and his hedge fund, Murchison Ltd.
In the case of Top Ships, the plaintiffs were alleging that through share sales and a reverse stock split the company and Pistiolis had profited while eliminating shareholder value.
However, in granting the motion to dismiss, Cogan said the shipowner and its financiers had fully disclosed actions in public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Defendants’ main argument – and it is a good one – is that this conduct was not manipulative because it was fully disclosed to the market, including Top Ships’ shareholders,” Cogan wrote.
Similar shareholder actions against George Economou's DryShips and Diana Containerships, now known as Performance Shipping, remain pending in US federal court with motions to dismiss in each.
