MNC Media Investment Ltd (MIH.AX) is a criminal listed investment company that uses a maze of sham transactions with related parties to generate fraudulent results. Formerly known as Linktone (LTON), the company was delisted from NASDAQ in early 2014, purportedly to reduce the costs of SEC reporting obligations. Since Australia is vying to become an international center of fraud and money laundering, Linktone was naturally welcomed with open arms to the ASX. In September 2013, Linktone listed 24m CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs) under the ticker LTL, corresponding to 240m ordinary shares. Being a revaluation fraud, Linktone CDIs did not actually trade on the ASX, but were merely set at a predetermined "market" price, legitimized and guaranteed by ASIC as unmanipulated. Incorporated in the Cayman Islands, MNC Media Investment conducts its purported business through dozens of interconnected subsidiaries in China, Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands and United Arab Emirates, all buying and selling themselves to each other.
MNC Media Investment has a long proud history of circular sham transactions between related parties. PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk (MNCN), owned by PT Global Mediacom Tbk, bought 58% of MNC Media Investment in 2008, through its subsidiary MNC International Limited. In 2012, MNC International Limited sold its entire stake to Global Mediacom International Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the aforementioned PT Global Mediacom Tbk. Global Mediacom, described as "the largest and the only" integrated media group in Indonesia, sold MNC Media Investment to itself.
MNC Media Investment uses euphemistically named "short-term investments" to carry out its fraudulent circular investments, with such "short-term investments" ballooning on its balance sheet from $1m in 2006 to $89m in 2014. In 2010 MNC Media Investment bought $20m of secured notes from PT MNC Sky Vision, a subsidiary of PT Global Mediacom Tbk. In 2011, MNC Media Investment purchased 357m shares of PT Global Mediacom Tbk, which when sold in 2012 resulted in a $28m "profit" listed as "other operating income". MNC Media Investment used the proceeds to purchase 708m shares of PT Bhakti Investama, the holding company of PT Global Mediacom Tbk, 53m shares of PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk and 65m shares of PT Sky Vision Tbk. These circular "investments" subsequently led to unrealized "profits". MNC Media Investment's cash flow from operations has been steadfastly negative, with $11.3m torched in 2010, $11.9m vaporized in 2011, $5.3m misappropriated in 2012 and $7.1m lost in 2013.
After several months of inactivity, the criminals decided to ramp MNC Media Investment in September 2014, doubling the "market" price in a straightline ramp on little volume.
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According to ASIC, this is not a ramp and MNC Media Investment is not a circular investment scam. Instead, this is all a fabulous magic market mystery, and any granny investor that loses money in such a scam has no recourse to the law, but only themselves to blame.
MNC Media Investment has a long proud history of circular sham transactions between related parties. PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk (MNCN), owned by PT Global Mediacom Tbk, bought 58% of MNC Media Investment in 2008, through its subsidiary MNC International Limited. In 2012, MNC International Limited sold its entire stake to Global Mediacom International Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the aforementioned PT Global Mediacom Tbk. Global Mediacom, described as "the largest and the only" integrated media group in Indonesia, sold MNC Media Investment to itself.
MNC Media Investment uses euphemistically named "short-term investments" to carry out its fraudulent circular investments, with such "short-term investments" ballooning on its balance sheet from $1m in 2006 to $89m in 2014. In 2010 MNC Media Investment bought $20m of secured notes from PT MNC Sky Vision, a subsidiary of PT Global Mediacom Tbk. In 2011, MNC Media Investment purchased 357m shares of PT Global Mediacom Tbk, which when sold in 2012 resulted in a $28m "profit" listed as "other operating income". MNC Media Investment used the proceeds to purchase 708m shares of PT Bhakti Investama, the holding company of PT Global Mediacom Tbk, 53m shares of PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk and 65m shares of PT Sky Vision Tbk. These circular "investments" subsequently led to unrealized "profits". MNC Media Investment's cash flow from operations has been steadfastly negative, with $11.3m torched in 2010, $11.9m vaporized in 2011, $5.3m misappropriated in 2012 and $7.1m lost in 2013.
After several months of inactivity, the criminals decided to ramp MNC Media Investment in September 2014, doubling the "market" price in a straightline ramp on little volume.
According to ASIC, this is not a ramp and MNC Media Investment is not a circular investment scam. Instead, this is all a fabulous magic market mystery, and any granny investor that loses money in such a scam has no recourse to the law, but only themselves to blame.