By Dean Seal
Brooge Energy will pay a $5 million fine to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations the United Arab Emirates-based energy company created false documents to support a $500 million stock sale that inflated its revenue from certain oil facilities over a three-year period.
The agency said in an order Friday that Brooge gave auditors false invoices that inflated revenue from its oil facilities in Fujairah, the main oil-storage hub of the United Arab Emirates, by more than $70 million between 2018 and early 2021.
The SEC claims former Chief Executive Nicolaas Lammert Paardenkooper and former interim-CEO Lina Saheb knew of the fraud or were reckless in not knowing of it.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Brooge has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty while Paardenkooper and Saheb will each pay $100,000 fines to settle the claims. The two individuals have also agreed to be permanently barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company.
Nasdaq-listed Brooge agreed during the course of the SEC's investigation not to follow through with the $500 million stock sale at issue. In April, the company restated its financial statements from 2018 through 2020.
Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-22-23 0959ET