SOLOTHURN, Switzerland–LAWFUEL – Litigation Newswire – A press release attributed to the law firm of McCarter & English, LLP issued on Thursday, April 5, 2007 repeats grossly inaccurate and scurrilous accusations made by ECO Munich, LLC and Mr. Jacques Allouf concerning Oppenheimer Investments AG and parts of its management Samuel Grossmann and Conrad Stampfli in a private civil lawsuit filed last week in New York. The allegations are inaccurate and the claims of ECO Munich and Mr. Allouf are entirely without merit.
Oppenheimer Investments emphatically denies each of the scurrilous accusations of ECO Munich, Mr. Rueckel and Mr. Allouf. Contrary to these parties’ allegations, Oppenheimer Investments has never claimed to be affiliated with the South African Oppenheimer family, there were no financial irregularities with respect to the Blue City Project and ECO Munich, Mr. Rueckel and Mr. Allouf never provided the services in connection with the project for which they are claiming payment. With respect to the Blue City Project, Moody’s recently rated the A1 tranch of the USA $925 million note financing Baa3 and construction is progressing completely on schedule with interest in the residential sale of villas and apartments exceeding all projections. The lawsuit and the press release issued by their attorneys are simply an attempt to obtain payments to which they are not entitled. Oppenheimer Investments will vigorously defend the lawsuit and take appropriate legal action against ECO Munich, Mr. Rueckel and Mr. Allouf, including obtaining repayment of certain monies already paid to which they were not entitled. Oppenheimer will hold Mr. Rueckel, Mr. Allouf, ECO Munich and their attorneys responsible for any damage caused by their allegations.
