Stock Sales by Leaders at Coronavirus Testing Company Raise Legal Concerns

NPR

Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, as governments scrambled to find rapid and reliable coronavirus tests, three states ended up turning to a small public company that just months earlier had no major customers and was losing millions of dollars.

The fortunes of that Salt Lake City company, Co-Diagnostics, began to rise in April when the Utah-based tech non-profit Silicon Slopes included Co-Diagnostics as part of a public-private partnership to increase that state's testing capacity and "crush the curve." Then Iowa and Nebraska chose to use Co-Diagnostics' tests, too. The company's share price skyrocketed from below $1 to around $30 at its peak, and Co-Diagnostics began bringing in millions in revenue.

Now, an NPR investigation has uncovered another side to Co-Diagnostics' dramatic growth during the pandemic, including potential legal concerns for company leaders, and persistent questions about its tests' accuracy. read more »

Energy Companies Agree to Settle Fraud Charges Stemming From Failed Nuclear Power Plant Expansion

SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that SCANA Corp. and its subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCE&G) have agreed to settle the SEC’s lawsuit charging them with defrauding investors by making false and misleading statements about a nuclear power plant expansion that was ultimately abandoned. The proposed settlement, which remains subject to court approval, would require SCANA to pay a $25 million penalty, and SCANA and SCE&G to pay $112.5 million in disgorgement plus prejudgment interest.

The SEC’s complaint filed in February 2020 alleged that SCANA, SCE&G, and two former senior executives misled investors by claiming that a project to build two nuclear units would qualify the company for more than $1 billion in tax credits when they knew the project was far behind schedule and therefore unlikely to qualify for the tax credits. read more »