Eros International PLC (EROS) Accused of Fabricating Trade Receivables to Mislead Shareholders

According to the complaint against the company for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 between July 28, 2017 and June 5, 2019, Eros International PLC (EROS) issued a series of misleading and materially false reports that failed to disclose the reality of its weak financial position and falsely assured the effectiveness of the company's financial reporting. In reality, many of the receivables touted in these reports did not exist but were rather a result of Eros and its executives using related-party transactions to fabricate trade receivables. Despite this attempt to hide their true financial position, Eros' Indian subsidiary missed loan payments and its credit rating was downgraded to "Default" in June 2019 because of "ongoing delays/default in debt servicing due to slowdown in collection from debtors." On this news, Eros shares fell $3.59, over 49%, to close at $3.71. The next day, Hindenburg Research published an article revealing Eros' accounting irregularities and its executives' scheme to hide receivables. On this news, the stock dropped another 11% and has since continued to fall. Today the stock trades under $2.00.