People wearing face masks walk by a Luckin Coffee store on June 29, 2020 in Yichang, Hubei Province of China.
Liu Junfeng | VCG | Getty Images
Luckin Coffee has agreed to pay a $180 million penalty to settle accounting fraud charges for “intentionally and materially” overstating its 2019 revenue and understating a net loss, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday.
The U.S. Securities and Commission (SEC) fine on the China-based rival to Starbucks comes after it said earlier this year that much of its 2019 sales were fabricated, sending its shares plunging and sparking an investigation by China’s securities regulator and the SEC.
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. The company has agreed to pay