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Block shares plunge after Hindenburg says Jack Dorsey’s company facilitates fraud

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Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter Inc., speaks during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, U.S., on Friday, June 4, 2021.

Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shares of Jack Dorsey’s Block plunged over 17% after short-seller Hindenburg Research announced the payment company was its latest short position, alleging that the company allowed criminal activity to operate with lax controls and “highly” inflates Cash App’s transacting userbase, a key metric of performance.

The short-seller described Block’s know-your-customer efforts as a “‘Wild West’ approach to compliance.”

“Our 2-year investigation has concluded that Block has systematically taken advantage of the demographics it claims to be helping,” the short seller said in its report. The research firm said that Block’s Cash App thrived on serving “unbanked” customers.

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The report alleges those unbanked customers were involved in criminal or illicit activity. Hindenburg also alleged that Cash App’s compliance programs were deficient.

As part of its two-year investigation, Hindenburg spoke with multiple former employees who described how internal concerns were suppressed and user concerns were ignored, even as alleged “criminal activity and fraud ran rampant on its platform.”

Hindenburg’s extensive report includes screenshots of internal systems and employee messages. It also highlighted alleged financial misreporting.

Up to 35% of Cash App’s revenue is derived from interchange fees, Hindenburg alleged. That’s around $892 million in revenue that the short-seller said should be capped by law.

But Block avoids that regulatory cap imposed on large financial institutions by routing the revenue through a small bank, Hindenburg alleged.

The small-bank routing method is one employed by Block rival PayPal, the short seller claimed, and which prompted a Securities and Exchange Commission probe.

PayPal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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“A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request we filed with the SEC indicates that Block may be part of a similar investigation,” Hindenburg wrote.

Citing interviews with former employees, Hindenburg alleged that “pressure from management has resulted in a pattern of disregard for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) laws.”

The report notes that “this appeared to be an effort to grow Cash App’s user base by strategically disregarding Anti Money Laundering (AML) rules.”

To test the theory, the short seller opened accounts in the name of former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and then opened a Cash App card, called the Cash Card, under the “obviously fake Donald Trump account,” the report said.

The card bearing Trump’s name arrived “promptly” in the mail.

“Former employees estimated that 40%-75% of accounts they reviewed were fake, involved in fraud, or were additional accounts tied to a single individual,” the report said.

Representatives for Block did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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“In sum, we think Block has misled investors on key metrics, and embraced predatory offerings and compliance worst-practices in order to fuel growth and profit from facilitation of fraud against consumers and the government,” Hindenburg wrote.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

Source: CNBC

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