Sino Clean Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SCEI)
MURRAY, FRANK & SAILER LLP is investigating securities fraud claims against Sino Clean Energy, Inc. ("Sino Energy" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SCEI) and certain of its officers and/or directors, on behalf of purchasers of Sino Energy securities between April 6, 2009 and May 5, 2011, inclusive (the "Class Period").
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The investigation concerns violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") that occurred when the Company and certain of its officers and/or directors issued materially false and misleading statements or omitted to state material information during the Class Period regarding Sino Energy's financial performance, business operations and revenues. As a result of these misstatements, Sino Energy's stock traded at artificially inflated prices throughout the Class Period.
On April 26, 2011, financial website GeoInvesting.com issued a report (the "GeoInvesting Report"), reportedly based on observations of Sino Energy's factories, alleging that (1) the Company's Tongchuan factory had only one production line, not three production lines as the Company claimed; (2) the Company had only 6 or 7 employees, as opposed to the 86 employees as the Company claimed; and (3) four of the Company's purported largest customers could not be confirmed or located.
Subsequently, on April 28, 2011, short seller Alfred Little published a more detailed report about Sino Energy on the website seekingalpha.com (the "Little Report" and, together with the GeoInvesting Report, the "Analyst Reports"), containing many of the allegations in the GeoInvesting Report and alleging in addition that (1) a four-month surveillance of three of the Company's factories in China revealed that the Company has "nothing more than backyard-sized money losing operations"; (2) the Company's Shenyang and Dongguan factories appeared to be operating well below their reported production capacity, or had substantially less production capacity than the Company reported; and (3) the Sino Energy's filings with Chinese regulatory authorities showed that the Company had no or nearly no operations. Following the issuance of the Analyst Reports, Sino Energy's stock price fell from a close of $4.12 per share on April 25, 2011, to a close of $2.47 per share on April 28, 2011, a drop of approximately 40%, on unusually heavy trading volume.
On May 2, 2011, Alfred Little published a follow-up report on seekingalpha.com, suggesting that the Company was a "Ponzi share scheme." On the following day, May 3, 2011, the Company posted on its website a letter to investors in response to the Analyst Reports, which provided footage allegedly showing that the Company's facilities were operating at the reported production levels. Following the issuance of the letter, the Company's share price rebounded briefly, only to fall again from a close of $3.50 per share on May 4, 2011 to a close of $2.59 per share on May 5, 2011.
On May 5, 2011, the company issued a press release, stating its intention to take legal action against GeoInvesting.com and Alfred Little.
If you purchased Sino Energy securities within the Class Period, and you wish to discuss this investigation, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us.
Contact:
MURRAY, FRANK & SAILER LLP
Bridget Hamill
212-682-1818
800-497-8076
