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LEAD: 100 Livedoor shareholders file damages suit against Livedoor, Horie+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 27_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING MORE INFO) A group of about 100 Livedoor Co. shareholders filed a damages suit Wednesday against the Internet firm, former Livedoor President Takafumi Horie and other former executives to seek compensation for losses caused by the company's share price plunge in the wake of an accounting-fraud scandal. The suit, filed with the Tokyo District Court, represents the first class action by those who suffered losses in connection with the scandal. Aside from the group, the lawyers' group representing approximately 1,000 Livedoor shareholders is planning to file a similar lawsuit at the end of May. The number of Livedoor shareholders totaled some 220,000 as of the end of last September. The Securities and Exchange Law allows for shareholders to seek damages if they trade shares based on false information provided by companies. Shares of Livedoor group firms have plummeted since prosecutors raided Livedoor offices in mid-January over the group's alleged securities exchange law violations. The prosecutors eventually indicted Horie and three other former executives for allegedly spreading falsified financial information. |