Brooge Energy Settles SEC Claims for False Documents
Brooge Energy, an energy company based in the United Arab Emirates, has agreed to pay a $5 million fine to settle allegations made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company created false documents in support of a $500 million stock sale. These documents were used to inflate the revenue generated from certain oil facilities over a period of three years.
According to the SEC, Brooge provided auditors with false invoices that exaggerated the revenue from its oil facilities in Fujairah, which is the main oil-storage hub in the UAE. The agency found that the revenue was inflated by over $70 million between 2018 and early 2021.
The SEC alleges that former Chief Executive Nicolaas Lammert Paardenkooper and former interim-CEO Lina Saheb were aware of the fraud or acted recklessly by not being aware of it.
As part of the settlement, Brooge has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty, while Paardenkooper and Saheb will each pay fines of $100,000. Additionally, both individuals have agreed to a permanent ban on serving as an officer or director of a public company.
In response to the SEC's investigation, Brooge also decided not to proceed with the $500 million stock sale that was under scrutiny. In April, the company restated its financial statements from 2018 to 2020.
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