Thai LPG distributor Picnic Corp came to market via a 2003 reverse merger, raising US$34m through a private placement in November. In February 2005, the company published its FY04 financials within which the auditor drew attention to the fact that the majority of earnings came from transactions with a particular group of gas fillers and distributors. This had no impact of the company’s share price. However, in May 2005, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) completed an investigation into Picnic and concluded that the company was artificially inflating sales, selling gas to related parties at inflated prices and management was stealing the company’s assets. The SEC's report prompted an 80% collapse in the company’s share price. Company executives were subsequently sent to jail for accounting fraud and securities violations. 

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