SEC fines UAE-based Brooge Energy $5M in fraud case

Accounting fraud

A United Arab Emirates-based, publicly traded energy company agreed to pay $5 million in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) resolving fraud charges related to a scheme to inflate revenues.

Brooge Energy went public through a special purpose acquisition company transaction in December 2019. The company “misstated between 30 and 80 percent of its revenues from 2018 through early 2021 in SEC filings related to the offer and sale of up to $500 million of securities,” the agency said in a press release Friday.

Also reaching settlement with the SEC were the company’s former chief executive officer, Nicolaas Lammert Paardenkooper, and former chief strategy officer and interim CEO, Lina Saheb, for their alleged roles in the scheme. They each agreed to pay $100,000 penalties and be permanently barred from serving as an officer or director at any SEC issuer.

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