Acln Ltd

ACLN Ltd., a Belgian-based company that maintained its U.S. investor relations office in Los Angeles, was charged Tuesday with "an exceptionally bold and elaborate financial fraud" in a Securities and Exchange Commission suit.

ACLN, a defunct Belgian company, along with its former chief executive and an affiliated firm, will return $27.6 million that U.S. regulators allege derived from fraud, officials said Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commission had accused ACLN, which once maintained an investor relations office in Los Angeles, of inventing a phony automobile shipping business and inflating company revenue.

ACLN, a defunct Belgian company, along with its former chief executive and an affiliated firm, will return $27.6 million that U.S. regulators allege derived from fraud, officials said Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commission had accused ACLN, which once maintained an investor relations office in Los Angeles, of inventing a phony automobile shipping business and inflating company revenue.

ACLN Ltd., a Belgian-based company that maintained its U.S. investor relations office in Los Angeles, was charged Tuesday with "an exceptionally bold and elaborate financial fraud" in a Securities and Exchange Commission suit.

ACLN Ltd. said it will cooperate with the Securities and Exchange Commission in its request for information about disclosures the company made in regulatory filings. The Belgium-based company, which ships low-cost used cars from Europe to Africa, "believes its SEC filings are accurate in all material respects," Chief Executive Aldo Labiad said. ACLN is accused in lawsuits of misstating profitability and future prospects.