印度市场监管机构对EKI Energy Services创始人处以罚款，并禁止其进入股票市场一年，原因是该人虚假陈述这家碳信用交易公司的财务报表并挪用资金。
India’s market regulator imposed penalties and banned the founder of EKI Energy Services from equity markets for a year for misrepresenting the financial statements of the carbon credits trading firm and diverting funds.
印度证券交易委员会（Sebi）在10月30日的一份命令中，指示EKI董事总经理兼创始人Manish Kumar Dabkara采取“立即措施追回”被挪用的金额。除了禁止其在印度证券市场交易12个月外，Sebi还对Dabkara处以280万卢比（约合29,490美元）的罚款。另有七人被处以较轻的罚款，其中包括三名前执行董事，他们也面临一至八个月的股票市场禁令。
The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, in an Oct. 30 order = directed Manish Kumar Dabkara, EKI’s managing director and founder, to take “immediate steps to recoup” the diverted amount. Besides the 12-month ban from India’s securities market, Sebi slapped fines worth 2.8 million rupees ($29,490) on Dabkara. Lesser penalties were imposed on seven others, including three former executive directors who also face one- to eight-month equity market bans.
Sebi的N Murugan在命令中写道，2022年三个季度的收入虚假陈述属于“鲁莽欺诈”。他补充称，2022和2023财年的“虚构支出”导致公司资金被挪用，这与Dabkara的行为有关。
The revenue misrepresentation for three quarters in 2022 was “reckless fraud,” Sebi’s N Murugan wrote in the order. He added that “the fictitious expenses” in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 led to the diversion of company funds that were connected to Dabkara’s conduct.
这项监管行动为总部位于印多尔的EKI跌宕起伏的历程画上了句号，该公司股价在2021年于印度证券交易所上市后不久飙升了10,000%。这波猛烈的股价上涨将公司估值从约1000万美元推高至10亿美元。到2021年底，这家从事碳信用交易并提供绿色烹饪解决方案的公司成为印度最宽基指数中当年度表现最好的股票，使其创始人Dabkara的身价暴增数百倍。
The regulatory action caps a rollercoaster ride for the Indore-based EKI, which saw its shares skyrocket 10,000% soon after it listed on Indian bourses in 2021. The blistering share rally propelled the company’s valuation from about $10 million to $1 billion. By the end of 2021, EKI, which trades in carbon credits and offers green cooking solutions, was the year’s best-performing stock in India’s broadest index, making its founder Dabkara a millionaire hundreds of times over.
监管机构称，公司在绿色炉灶分发完毕后即刻确认收入，而未履行履约义务。根据该命令，在这两年间，公司通过做假账和虚高列支费用，涉嫌挪用了高达4.8亿卢比。
The regulator said the company booked revenues upfront as soon as the green cookstoves were distributed, without fulfilling performance obligations. As much as 480 million rupees was allegedly diverted during these two years, by cooking its books and overstating expenses, according to the order.
Sebi表示，在审计师介入后，公司重述了2023财年收入，这是一个减轻因素，从而导致处罚较轻。
The company restated its FY23 revenue after the auditor’s intervention and that was a mitigating factor that led to lighter penalties, Sebi said.
在碳抵消市场价格飙升之际，EKI 成为首家上市的碳抵消公司，而这些抵消额构成了该公司大部分资产。但随着越来越多用户表示 EKI 的产品无助于企业缩减碳足迹，从而在应对全球变暖的斗争中失效，其价值受到质疑。
EKI was the first listed carbon offsets company at a time when the market price of those offsets — it made up most of the firm’s assets — was rocketing. But their value came under question with a growing chorus of users saying EKI’s product didn’t help companies shrink their carbon footprint, thus failing in the fight against global warming.
随着命运急转直下，公司面临的挑战不断增加。去年 12 月，公司因拖欠 1850 万卢比债务，收到一家营运贷款方发出的破产清偿通知。截至 3 月 31 日止年度，公司录得 1.5 亿卢比亏损，而三年前利润超过 11 亿卢比。
As its fortunes plummeted, its challenges mounted. The company received an insolvency notice from an operational lender in December for unpaid debts of 18.5 million rupees. It posted a loss of 150 million rupees for the year ended March 31 versus a profit of more than 1.1 billion rupees three years back.