Kingold Jewelry, Inc. (KGJI) Accused of Misleading Shareholders
In March 2018, Kingold filed its 2017 annual report on form 10-K in which the Company stated it “allocated significant portion of its inventories as investment in gold and pledged as collateral to secure loans from banks and financial institutions.” The Company also attested to its accuracy of financial reporting and disclosure of all fraud. Kingold then reaffirmed these statements in its 2018 10-K. However, on June 29, 2020, Caixan Global published an article revealing “at least some of 83 tons of gold bars used as collateral turned out to be nothing but gilded copper.” As a result of its fraudulent misconduct, three different financial institutions that loaned to Kingold have filed lawsuits against the Company and the Shanghai Gold Exchange disqualified Kingold as a member. On this news, Kingold’s share price fell over 24% to close at $0.85 per share.