Hundreds of Iowans allegedly ripped off in employee-purchase deal

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Des Moines Register: Employees of West Des Moines health care company Telligen claim in a lawsuit that they were overcharged for shares in their company in an employee stock ownership plan. The company’s workers paid $37.5 million for Telligen’s 1 million shares — a price of about $37.50 per share. But just a few weeks later, those shares were valued at just $6.25. The lawsuit coincides with a wave of enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Labor aimed at trusts that specialize in ESOPs. Federal officials say too many companies are being sold to rank-and-file workers at inflated prices that make corporate officers rich at the expense of their own employees.