Chinese Video Streamer Says Internal Review Debunks Fraud Claims

Chinese video streaming firm iQiyi said in a statement on Monday that its internal review into the financial fraud allegations made by American short seller Wolfpack Research “did not uncover any evidence that would substantiate the allegations.”

The announcement comes two months after iQiyi disclosed that it was under a probe launched by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in reaction to an April report in which Wolfpack accused iQiyi of inflating its 2019 revenue by roughly 8 billion yuan ($1.14 billion) to 13 billion yuan.

In Monday’s statement, Baidu-backed iQiyi said that the internal review was overseen by its independent audit committee with assistance from professional advisers including a “Big Four” accounting firm that is not the company’s auditor.

Nasdaq-listed iQiyi also said that it will continue to cooperate with the SEC to proceed with the disclosed investigation by providing related documents and records, according to the statement.

 

– This article originally appeared on Caixin Global.