UC Sues AOL, Alleging Revenue Was Inflated

The University of California accused AOL Time Warner Inc. of using tricks and bogus transactions to inflate the company’s revenue by $1 billion while top executives pocketed $1 billion through personal stock sales.

The university, which said it lost $450 million from the collapse of AOL’s stock price over the last two years, was joined by Amalgamated Bank’s Longview Collective Investment Fund in a shareholder lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

An AOL spokeswoman declined to comment. The New York company faces about 30 shareholder lawsuits. William Lerach, attorney for the institutions, said the suit was filed in California to take advantage of tougher state laws.