Luckin Coffee to pay $180 million in settlement, says SEC

Luckin Coffee has agreed to pay a $180 million penalty to settle accounting fraud charges, said the Securities and Exchange Commission

(SEC)

on Wednesday.

The company and the SEC have reached a settlement on the alleged financial fraud of some former employees. The SEC said it found that Luckin "intentionally and materially overstated its reported revenue and expenses and materially understated its net loss in its publicly disclosed financial statements in 2019.” Luckin has not admitted or denied the charges, the SEC said, quoted by Reuters.

At present, the company and stores are operating normally, said Luckin Coffee in a post on its official Weibo account.

(Cover: A Luckin Coffee shop in Qianmen street, Beijing, September 12, 2020. /CFP)