Puda Coal Execs to Pay $250M for Looting Scheme

The former chairman and CEO of Puda Coal, Inc., a company based in the People’s Republic of China, must pay over $250 million for their roles in an alleged corporate theft scheme that erased hundreds of millions of dollars in shareholder value and left the issuer a shell with no ongoing business operations (SEC v. Zhao, S.D.N.Y., 1:12-cv-01316, 7/24/15).

Judge Denise L. Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final default judgment against Ming Zhao and Liping Zhu, both Chinese nationals, and ordered them to pay $250,945,459.78 in civil ...