Shareholders Battle It Out In Court

Empire share records show that there is one single share fetching 1.3¢, that 65 shareholders lay claim to. Those in the industry are baffled as to why these shareholdings are holding on to this, apart from its very minimal gains, there seems to be nothing worth investing on from this arrangement.

The 65 shareholders include 33 big companies owned by directors from one of Sydney’s stockbroking firm, the HC Securities. The said directors are Luke William Cummings, Rodney Stephen Harper and Andrew Peter Salvestrin, but they have since left the company.

The records also show that when the three directors left, their sold 85% of their operations and as Mr. Harper notes, these were sold so that they can join in Empire’s Share purchase plans (SPP). This means that if their 33 companies bought at least their $15,000 worth of shares with the SPP discount, they could stand to earn $120,000 just for a day’s transaction.

This, and other low value trades since the SPP offering, is part of a shareholders battle that has been going on in the courts, amidst accusations of the Empire board’s incompetence. The board, meanwhile, is suing some shareholders for defamation.

A stock forum online has also shut down because of recent developments of what appears to be court mudslinging in court.

TopStocks, a shareholders chat site, posted an announcement on its page, saying the Empire Oil & Gas (EGO) has shut down temporarily. Its members are not allowed to post any comment in the forum until such time the site has been reopened.

The announcement added that the closure of the site is because of a pending legal action, which cannot be discussed in detail.