



By Isabella Steger and Kate OKeeffe
Fresh from its attacks on the Iranian government, Bank of America Corp. and Sony Corp., hacker group Anonymous has now set its sights on a Chinese fruit and vegetable producer it claims is one of the Hong Kong stock Exchanges largest, and longest running frauds.
According to a document released Monday on the website of Anonymous Analytics a new offshoot of the hacktivist group, dedicated to exposing corporate fraud Chaoda Modern Agriculture (Holdings) Ltd. has been engaging in 11 years of deceit and corporate fraud.
But its first target isnt exactly a bombshell reminiscent of Muddy Waters LLCs muck-raking of Sino-Forest Corp. Chaoda hasbeen under scrutiny for some time. Most recently, Hong Kong-based Next Magazine wrote in May that the company had overstated the size of its farmland in China, among other allegations. Chaoda has denied the report.
In an emailed response to The Wall Street Journal, Anonymous Analytics said it had chosen Chaoda as its first target, despite it already being the subject of much controversy, because it was an easy project for us to get our feet wet in this arena. The evidence was everywhere.
In the report, peppered with Internet memes and quotes from TV shows The Simpsons and Seinfeld, the group says Chaoda has an extensive history of deceiving investors and shareholders since going public in 2000, and has consistently overstated its cash balance and falsified its books. It calculates Chaodas fair value to be HK$0.60 per share, though it believes Chaodas end-game is a delisting from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as it will not be able to survive scrutiny.
Anonymous Analytics also accuses Hong Kong regulators of sleeping at the wheel, allowing an obvious fraud to operate for so long.
Perhaps of more interest than the content of the Sept. 26 report is its timing. That Monday morning in Hong Kong, media reports said the company was being investigated by the government for market misconduct, sending shares down 27%, and 81% year-to-date at HK$1.10. The company was suspended from trading at midday.
When asked about the timing, Anonymous Analytics said: After 11 years, the government decided to announce proceedings hours before we released our report. We will let your readers do the math.
According to the governments Market Misconduct Tribunal website, a preliminary hearing for Chaodas case was held Sept. 6. A second hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Hong Kongs Securities and Futures Commission declined to comment. A spokesman for Chaoda said the company is preparing a statement in response to the Anonymous Analytics report. The Market Misconduct Tribunal declined further comment on details of the case.
Anonymous Analytics states in a disclaimer in the report that while it doesnt hold a direct position in Chaoda, it stands to gain from any fall in the share price through an indirect interest in short positions held by parties associated with its investigation. In short, its not, as it says on its Twitter page, merely taking down corporations for the lulz (or laughs).
-Chester Yung contributed to this post.
view original article