Anthonette Clerigo – Page 25 – Financial Treason & Crime

Dana Blankenhorn, 14 March 2019

I’ve been pretty hard on web store provider Shopify (NASDAQ:SHOP), but investors, and the Shopify stock price, have ignored me. Since tech bottomed at Christmas, Shopify shares have risen from less than $130 to their March 13 opening bid of $202. That gives the company a market cap of $22.4 billion, on 2018 revenue of $1.07 billion.

As far back as 2017 I predicted this would all end in tears, citing a report from short-sellers Citron Research that called Shopify a scam at $60 per share. More recently I noted its lack of operating cash flow and use in drop-ship scams. All this is still true. But it doesn’t disturb the bulls. One recent story calls Shopify a “virtual go-to destination for aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses.”
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02/27/201902/22/2021

Article: COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR SUES RIVAL OVER FRAUD, RACKETEERING

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COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR SUES RIVAL OVER FRAUD, RACKETEERING

Oregon Small Business Association, 27 February 2019

Portland-based Columbia Sportswear has filed a $20 million lawsuit against a competitor, accusing Seirus Innovative Accessories of San Diego and its leaders of wire fraud, perjury, and racketeering.

Columbia’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, is just the latest volley in six-year intellectual property fight rife with accusations of perjury, fraud, and destruction of evidence.

Columbia accused Seirus of violating its two patents by copying its heat-reflective Omni-Heat technology, according to The Oregonian. Columbia uses the profitable technology introduced in 2010 in its clothing, including shirts, gloves, socks and jackets. Seirus uses a similar reflective fabric in its products.
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02/13/201902/26/2021

Article: What happened to Namaste Technologies (TSXV: N)

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What happened to Namaste Technologies (TSXV: N)

Ted Ohashi, 13 February 2019

QUESTION: What’s happening with Namaste Technologies (TSXV: N). I know it was one of your top recommendations a few years ago and then you cooled on it. Now I read the founder and CEO is fired by the Board and his uncle the Chairman is selling stock.

ANSWER: There’s no joy in kicking someone when they are down so that is not my objective. I often talk about the importance of management in the investment decision making process and Namaste Technologies (TSXV: N) is an excellent case in point. But the point of it is although reports by those much abhorred short sellers who write hatchet jobs on companies that describe in graphic terms why they believe a stock is extremely overvalued. But time and time again, they do provide a valuable service.
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02/07/201902/25/2021

Article: Houston, Pot Stock Namaste Technologies Has a Problem

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Houston, Pot Stock Namaste Technologies Has a Problem

Sean Williams, 07 February 2019

On early Monday morning, Feb. 4, Namaste Technologies (OTC:NXTTF), a small-cap cannabis company known best for selling vaporizers and starting up a medical cannabis portal known as NamasteMD, issued a press release that announced the termination of its CEO Sean Dollinger, with cause. Before we get to the specifics of this press release and why Dollinger was relieved of his leadership role, it helps to have some background on why this press release was necessary.

Back in October, noted short-seller Citron Research, which is headed by Andrew Left, released a report alleging that Namaste Technologies was a “complete fraud.” Left accused Namaste of making a “fake claim of a Nasdaq listing to get investors to buy the stock” and, more importantly, claimed to have uncovered a related party sale tied to the company’s divestiture of Dollinger Enterprises in Nov. 2017.
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01/30/201902/23/2021

Article: Court orders Palantir to let investor in U.S. fraud probe inspect emails

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Court orders Palantir to let investor in U.S. fraud probe inspect emails

Jonathan Stempel, 30 January 2019

(Reuters) – The Delaware Supreme Court on Tuesday gave an investor probing possible fraud and mismanagement at Palantir Technologies Inc more power to litigate against and inspect emails of the data analytics company co-founded by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.

In a 3-0 vote, the court said a lower court judge abused his discretion by preventing KT4 Partners LLC from using materials from Palantir in litigation outside Delaware, and from reviewing emails related to Palantir’s investors’ rights agreement.
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01/29/201902/25/2021

Article: FSD Pharma: A Rollup With Scattered, Uneconomical Cannabis Investments, 50-70% Downside

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FSD Pharma: A Rollup With Scattered, Uneconomical Cannabis Investments, 50-70% Downside

WHITE DIAMOND, 25 January 2019

FSD Pharma’s founder, Thomas Fairfull, and director, Anthony Durkacz, have a history of value destruction. Durkacz had an average loss of 92% over 11 stocks in which he had involvement. The company spent $8 million on listing fees, which is a head-scratcher, as it is multiple times larger than what comps spend. Durkacz has received an astounding sum of over C$28.7 million total current value in cash and warrants for being both a director and broker for FSD. FSD Pharma routinely announces investing in other small cannabis companies, but so far has shown little follow-through. We have a price target on FSD of C$0.09 per share, which was its pre-RTO financing price less than a year ago.
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01/10/201902/26/2021

Article: Pretium – Pretium’s Predictable Predicament

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Pretium – Pretium’s Predictable Predicament

Viceroy Research, 10 January 2019

Pretium released the Brucejack Mine’s Q4 2018 production update yesterday after-market, and market reaction shows it fell short of expectations. Pretium’s ore grade has predictably fallen since Q2 2018 by >22%, leading to a miss of Pretium’s H2 low-end gold production guidance of 200,000 ounces. At 11.5g/t, Pretium’s head grade is now 30% below feasibility study sampling.

Per our previous reports, Viceroy believe Pretium’s grades will continue to fall as Pretium appear to be at the tail end of extracting high-grade deposits found along the Cleopatra Vein. As a reminder to our readers, we have appended this section of our thesis to this note.

Pretium have attributed their production and grade shortfall on their grade control system, which they state will be refined. We believe this is an unnerving excuse, and have provided substantial evidence to support our thesis that Pretium is overmining or selectively mining its deposits.
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12/19/201802/27/2021

Article: Citron Says the “Bidding Is On” for This Cannabis Company

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Citron Says the “Bidding Is On” for This Cannabis Company

DANIEL LIBERTO, 19 December 2018

Famous short seller Andrew Left has high hopes for Aphria Inc. (APHA). In a research note, Left’s firm Citron Research claimed that the heavily shorted marijuana stock could hit $8 within the next two weeks because it has emerged as a prime acquisition target for either a major consumer packaged goods company or another marijuana producer.

“Expect an $APHA major partnership or total buyout SOON,” Citron tweeted on Tuesday after publishing its report. Citron’s bullish note, on top of news that Aphria expanded on an existing licensing agreement with Rapid Dose Therapeutics to offer its QuickStrip oral drug delivery system to customers in fast-growing marijuana market Germany, lifted the Canadian company’s shares 7.79% during Tuesday’s trading session.
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12/06/201802/25/2021

Article: More smoking guns will be revealed about Aphria, says short-seller

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More smoking guns will be revealed about Aphria, says short-seller

Jayson MacLean, 06 December 2018

Recently emerged fraud allegations concerning marijuana company Aphria Inc (Aphria Stock Quote, Chart TSX, NYSE: APHA) may have already trashed the stock, but the worst could still be forthcoming, says short-seller Gabriel Grego, who claims there’s likely a lot more damning evidence to be revealed in the company’s documents.

A report released on Monday and co-authored by Hindenburg Research and Grego’s Quintessential Capital Management alleges that Aphria paid “vastly inflated” prices for essentially worthless assets in Latin America, in particular the $193-million purchase of LATAM Holdings, a subsidiary of Scythian Biosciences which has assets in Jamaica, Colombia and Argentina.
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12/06/201802/25/2021

Article: Aphria fallout: 5 takeaways on the report that sent this cannabis stock plunging

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Aphria fallout: 5 takeaways on the report that sent this cannabis stock plunging

Lisa Bernard-Kuhn and Matt Lamers, 06 December 2018

The blows to Aphria’s stock continued Wednesday as the Canadian cannabis giant’s share price tumbled in the wake of a scathing short-seller report. Aphria’s stock (Nasdaq: APHA) closed Wednesday at $4.51 – down more than 25% for the day. The company has been on the defensive since Monday, refuting claims lobbed by short sellers Quintessential Capital Management and Hindenburg Research that Aphria’s management is a part of a shell game controlled by insiders raiding company coffers to line their own pockets. Aphria, in a statement issued Monday, called the allegations “malicious.”
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12/03/201802/20/2021

Article: The marijuana producer Aphria is crashing after short seller alleges it’s a ‘shell game with a cannabis business on the side’ (APHA)

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The marijuana producer Aphria is crashing after short seller alleges it’s a ‘shell game with a cannabis business on the side’ (APHA)

Ethel Jiang, 03 December 2018

The marijuana producer Aphria slumped as much as 30% — to a low of $5.60 a share — after a firm alleged the company’s business was full of overvalued buyouts and fraudulent financial reporting.
“Aphria is part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders to divert funds away from shareholders into their own pockets,” short seller Quintessential Capital Management’s Hindenburg Research said Monday morning in a report titled “Aphria: a shell game with a cannabis business on the side.”
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12/03/201802/25/2021

Article: HAGENS BERMAN, NATIONAL TRIAL ATTORNEYS, Encourages ACM Research (ACMR) Investors with Losses to Contact Its Attorneys, Securities Fraud Case Filed

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The marijuana producer Aphria is crashing after short seller alleges it’s a ‘shell game with a cannabis business on the side’ (APHA)

Ethel Jiang, 03 December 2018

The marijuana producer Aphria slumped as much as 30% — to a low of $5.60 a share — after a firm alleged the company’s business was full of overvalued buyouts and fraudulent financial reporting. “Aphria is part of a scheme orchestrated by a network of insiders to divert funds away from shareholders into their own pockets,” short seller Quintessential Capital Management’s Hindenburg Research said Monday morning in a report titled “Aphria: a shell game with a cannabis business on the side.” Aphria responded Monday afternoon in a press release, referring Hindenburg Research’s report as “a malicious and self-serving attempt to profit by manipulating Aphria’s stock price at the expense of Aphria’s shareholders.”
Continue reading “Article: HAGENS BERMAN, NATIONAL TRIAL ATTORNEYS, Encourages ACM Research (ACMR) Investors with Losses to Contact Its Attorneys, Securities Fraud Case Filed”

11/14/201802/26/2021

Article: Short seller Andrew Left has his doubts about Canadian pot stocks, says he’s betting against Canopy

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Short seller Andrew Left has his doubts about Canadian pot stocks, says he’s betting against Canopy

Thomas Franck, 14 November 2018

Citron Research’s Andrew left reiterated his bet against the Canadian cannabis industry Wendesday, telling CNBC that he’s short Canopy Growth and Cronos Group in addition to his already disclosed wager against Tilray.

Fielding a question from “Halftime Report” host Scott Wapner, Left said his doubts on the space aren’t confined to just one company. “I’m also short Cronos, I’m short Canopy, I’m short Tilray. So I’m short a basket of the names,” he said. “Once the U.S. licensed producers come on — the faster it becomes legal in the U.S., the quicker the Canada names go lower.”

“They won’t get the exposure in the U.S., they’re not players internationally,” Left added. “I don’t care how many press releases they put out, they’re not going to be shipping cannabis from Canada to Australia. Not happening.”
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11/12/201802/26/2021

Article: Citron’s Left calls Tilray surge its ‘worst day ever’ in market

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Citron’s Left calls Tilray surge its ‘worst day ever’ in market

David Randall, 12 November 2018

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Andrew Left, one of Wall Street’s most prominent short-sellers, said Tilray Inc gave his firm its “worst day ever in the market” two months ago when its shares almost doubled in one session, but he remains bearish on the Canadian cannabis company.

Left, whose Citron Research has been betting against the stock since it traded in the $70s, was caught unprepared for the surge, which took the stock as high as $300 in intraday trading on Sept. 19, he told the Reuters Global Investment 2019 Outlook Summit in New York on Monday.
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11/12/201802/23/2021

Article: Palantir Has a $20 Billion Valuation and a Bigger Problem: It Keeps Losing Money

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Palantir Has a $20 Billion Valuation and a Bigger Problem: It Keeps Losing Money

Rob Copeland and Eliot Brown, 12 November 2018

According to the complaint, throughout the Class Period, Defendants misrepresented and concealed that (1) ACM Research’s revenues and profits were diverted to undisclosed related parties, and (2) consequently, the company materially overstated its revenues and profits. Investors allegedly began to learn the truth on Oct. 8, 2020, when J Capital Research published a report entitled “Dirty business,” bringing ACM Research’s reported financials into serious question.

More specifically, J Capital concludes ACM Research is a fraud, over-reporting both revenue and profit. According to the report, “ACMR reports industry-beating gross margins of 47%” but “[w]e believe the real gross margins are half at the best.” J Capital also concludes revenues are overstated by 15-20%, undisclosed related parties are diverting revenue and profit from the company, the key means by which ACMR tunnels over-reported profit out of the company may be through about $20 million in overstated inventory and through cash that is inflated or compromised, and warranty and service costs are understated by at least $11 million.
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