SEC Goes After Chinese Coal Executives (PUDA)
The Securities and Exchange Commission has now charged two China-based executives with defrauding investors. The charge is that these investors believed that they believed they were investing in a Chinese coal business “when in fact they were investing in an…
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has now charged two China-based executives with defrauding investors. The charge is that these investors believed that they believed they were investing in a Chinese coal business “when in fact they were investing in an empty shell company.”
More specifically the SEC noted, “Chairman Ming Zhao schemed with former CEO Liping Zhu to steal and sell Puda Coal’s sole revenue-producing asset, a coal mining company named Shanxi Puda Coal Group.”
The long and short of it is that Zhao is accused of secretly transferred Puda Coal’s controlling interest in Shanxi Coal to himself and he then sold a substantial portion to a fund controlled by “what is reported to be China’s largest state-owned financial firm.” The move is said to have given Zhao the profits rather than Puda Coal’s public shareholders.
What is amazing is that Puda Coal (PUDA) still trades as a stock. At $0.27, the 52-week range is listed on Yahoo! Finance as being $0.05 to $13.05.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.