AgFeed, a Tennessee based hog production company, which was based in China, will pay $18 million to settle a Securities and Exhange Commission investigation which alleged that it reported false revenues to boost its stock price the SEC has announced. According to the agency, AgFeed inflated the revenue by $239 million by creating false invoices for the sale of feed and sales of hogs that didn’t actually exist
The case against AgFeed is among more than 20 the SEC has filed against U.S.-traded Chinese companies and their officials over alleged accounting fraud and other issues. Over the past few years, regulators, auditors and investors have raised questions about more than 170 U.S.-traded Chinese companies about their accounting and disclosure practices.
The $18 million settlement will be distributed to victims of the company’s fraud, the SEC said. The settlement is subject to approval by both the Tennessee court where the SEC’s lawsuit was filed and the Delaware court overseeing AgFeed’s bankruptcy.
Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers
