SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 22, 2021 / Hagens Berman updates investors in the following publicly-traded companies and urges investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm. Further details about the cases, including important upcoming deadlines, can be found at the links provided.
SOS Investors Click Here.
RIDE Investors Click Here.
XL Investors Click Here.
SOS Limited (SOS) Securities Fraud Class Action:
Class Period: July 22, 2020 - Feb. 25, 2021
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 1, 2021
Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/SOS
Contact An Attorney Now: [email protected]
844-916-0895
The complaint centers on SOS's purported recent entry into the bitcoin mining business. For example, on Jan. 21, 2021, SOS claimed to have purchased over 15,000 mining rigs from HY International Group New York ("HY") for $20 M, and a month later, claimed that 5,000 mining rigs had already gone live.
The complaint alleges that, in truth, SOS is a fraudulent stock promotion scheme that has concealed related party transactions, and has misrepresented the type and/or existence of bitcoin mining rigs SOS claimed to have purchased earlier this year.
Investors allegedly began to learn the truth on Feb. 26, 2021, when Hindenburg Research and Culper Research released scathing commentary on SOS, claiming that SOS was an intricate "pump and dump" scheme that used fake addresses and doctored photos of crypto miners to create an illusion of success. The analysts pointed out that the company's SEC filings, for instance, listed a hotel room as the firm's headquarters. The analysts also questioned whether SOS had actually purchased the claimed mining rigs, as HY appears to be a fake shell company. Most damaging, the analysts alleged that the photos SOS had published of their "mining rigs" were phony. Culper noted that the photographed SOS "miners" weren't the A10 Pros the company claimed to own. Instead, they were pictures of Avalon's A1066 miners. Hindenburg further found the original images from SOS's site belonged to a legitimate rival, RHY.
After the class period, on Mar. 9, 2021 SOS admitted that rig seller HY was formed to preserve the "confidentiality" of a Chinese seller of used mining rigs.
Then, on Mar. 12, 2021 Culper published a follow-up report, claiming that SOS board member Wenbin Wu is directly linked to HY and arguing that SOS's supposed desire for "‘confidentiality'" is in fact a thinly-veiled excuse for fraud via an undisclosed related party transaction."
"We're focused on investors' losses and proving SOS is a false promotion scheme," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.
If you are a SOS investor, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.
RIDE Securities Fraud Class Action:
Class Period: Aug. 3, 2020 - Mar. 17, 2021
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 17, 2021
Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/cases/RIDE
Contact an Attorney Now: [email protected]
844-916-0895
The complaint alleges defendants misled investors by (i) falsely touting customer pre-orders when they were non-binding agreements, (ii) concealing that many would-be customers lacked the means to make such purchases, (iii) misstating that Lordstown was "on track" to commence production of the Endurance in Sept. 2021, and (iv) omitting to disclose that the first Endurance test run resulted in the vehicle quickly bursting into flames.
Investors began to learn the truth on Mar. 12, 2021, when Hindenburg Research published a report, claiming that the 100,000 pre-orders for Lordstown's EV truck are "largely fictitious and used as a prop to raise capital and confer legitimacy." Hindenburg also cited significant, undisclosed production delays and a prototype that "burst into flames 10 minutes before the test drive" in Jan. 2021, substantiating claims by former employees that the company is not conducting the needed testing or validation required by the NHTSA. On this news, Lordstown shares fell by 17% in one trading day.
After the markets closed on Mar. 17, 2021, Lordstown disclosed that Lordstown is the subject of an SEC inquiry. Finally, before the markets opened on Mar. 18, 2021, Lordstown's CEO, Stephen Burns, appeared on CNBC stating, "We never said we had orders. We don't have a product yet so by definition you can't have orders." Lordstown shares fell approximately another 9% on this news.
"We're focused on investors' losses and proving Lordstown duped investors about its order book," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.
If you are a Lordstown investor and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.
XL Fleet Corp. (NYSE:XL) Securities Fraud Class Action:
Class Period: Oct. 2, 2020 - Mar. 2, 2021
Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 7, 2021
Visit: http://www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/xl
Contact An Attorney Now: [email protected]
844-916-0895
The complaint alleges that: (1) XL's sales pipelines was materially inflated; (2) XL grossly overstated its customer base; (3) XL's technology had been materially overstated and did not provide customers the represented cost savings; and (4) that XL lacks the supply chain and engineers to roll out new products on the announced timelines.
The truth emerged on Mar. 3, 2021, when analyst Muddy Waters published a report calling XL "More SPAC Trash." Based on interviews with former employees, Muddy Waters claimed that salespeople "were pressured to inflate their sales pipelines materially," and that "customer reorder rates are in reality quite low" due to "poor performance and regulatory issues." The report also alleged that "at least 18 of 33 customers XL featured were inactive." Muddy Waters also claimed that XL has "weak technology" and that "XL's announcement of future class 7-8 upfits seems highly promotional" because the task is "too technologically complex for XL engineers to deliver on the promised timeline."
Then, on Mar. 4, 2021, after XL issued a denial, Muddy Waters criticized XL's "placeholder response," tweeting, "We spoke to a fleet manager for one of the companies XL brags about in its response. He said MPG gains only ~10%, not 25%. He said didn't help for highway driving. Also his company bought at a deep discount. Tell. The. Truth."
In response, the Company's share price declined $5.55, or 33% over three trading days.
Finally, on Mar. 10, 2021, after XL issued a more detailed response, Muddy Waters released another report, observing that XL did not deny key allegations, including (1) its inflated pipeline, (2) overstated customer base, and (3) low customer reorder rates.
"We're focused on investors' losses and proving XL misled investors by exaggerating its order backlog," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.
If you are an XL investor and have significant losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding SOS, Lordstown and/or XL Fleet should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email [email protected], [email protected] and/or [email protected].
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CONTACT:
Reed Kathrein
844-916-0895
SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP