Poland’s LPP says police are investigating Hindenburg Research

WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish police have opened an investigation into possible manipulation of financial instruments by Hindenburg Research, fashion group LPP said on Thursday.

On March 15, LPP’s Warsaw-listed shares plunged 36%, after Hindenburg Research questioned the company’s sale in 2022 of its Russian assets in a report. LPP denied the information published by Hindenburg Research.

Hindenburg Research did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment and Reuters was not able to confirm the investigation with the district prosecutor’s office as it was outside of its working hours.

“The company received a decision on the initiation of an investigation into the suspected crime of manipulating financial instruments in the form of the company’s shares on March 15, 2024 by persons associated with Hindenburg,” LPP said in a statement on Thursday.

It said the investigation regarded “the dissemination via the internet of information that gave or was likely to give false or misleading signals as to the actual demand, supply or price of a financial instrument”.

It added that the investigation was opened by the Warsaw Police deparment for combatting economic crime and is supervised by the district prosecutor’s office in Warsaw.