Ernst & Young Accused of Helping Brooge Defraud SPAC Investors

Ernst & Young LLP helped Brooge Petroleum and Gas Investment Company FZE fraudulently entice investors into taking part in a merger transaction, a lawsuit filed in federal court says.

EY played a “pivotal role” in Brooge’s scheme to defraud the investors in a 2019 special purpose acquisition company merger, the complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York says. A SPAC is a “publicly-traded shell corporation created to raise capital through an initial public offering (“IPO”) with the sole purpose of acquiring or merging with a private company,” the complaint says.

Brooge is ...