There is a colorful cast of characters behind the conversion of a bunch of small, private, unknown Chinese companies into the NASDAQ-listed company China Sky One Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSKI).
A report from asensio.com issued on June 17th described China Sky’s investor relations representative Crocker Coulson and his firm, CCG Investor Relations, frequent promoters of US-listed Chinese penny stocks. We do not yet know whether Coulson and CCG received stock as part of their compensation. It seems that CCG did receive stock in at least one other Chinese reverse merger, Zhongpin Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS). Peter Siris, a vocal CSKI shareholder, who runs Guerrilla Capital, is also a HOGS shareholder.
Mr. Siris is fond of making promotional statements on China Sky’s conference calls, always emphasizing the buzz words “stem cells.” Guerrilla owned 130,000 CSKI shares as of April 2008 (see CSKI’s S-1 filing). While managing money, Siris also comments on stocks for New York Daily News.
Siris and Coulson’s firms both appear in Zhongpin’s Form 424B3 filed June 16, 2009. CCG Investor Relations is listed owning 105,000 HOGS shares, and Guerrilla is listed with 200,109 shares, at the time worth $1,114,050 and $2,123,156 respectively.
Another report issued by asensio.com discussed the firm that arranged China Sky’s first PIPE offering, American Eastern, and its principal, Trang Chong “Charles” Hung. As part of CSKI’s first PIPE, American Eastern, Charles Hung and his son, Charles Hung, Jr. together received more than 875,000 CSKI shares. Both American Eastern and Charles Hung have been censured by FINRA. A previous asensio.com report explores the possibility that Hung Sr. is associated with Takasima, the Malaysian company that is one of China Sky’s major distributors. Click here to see report.
Yan-Qing Liu, China Sky’s CEO is a reporter turned traditional Chinese medicine superstar, having led CSKI while sales supposedly increased 86% to 158% each year since 2005. Prior to joining China Sky’s operating company, Liu served as a reporter for “Family Health Newspaper.” He owns more than 4 million shares of CSKI stock.
China Sky’s current CFO, Yu-Bo “Stanley” Hao’s credentials are not standard for a CFO. Hao earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix, a controversial online university, and worked in a non-financial role in another industry – marketing for MGM Mirage, a casino operator – prior to joining China Sky.
China Sky’s board also features a 26-year-old, Jiang Qi Feng, who serves on the audit committee with two other directors. Jiang Qi Feng is the “audit committee financial expert.” His previous work experience was as a university teaching assistant in “biology statistics, biology research and probability.”
Pope Asset Management is China Sky’s largest outside shareholder, having more than 1.3 million shares. Pope is based in Memphis, Tennessee, and invests in stocks such as Guangdong Nan Yue (Pink Sheets: GUDNF $0.20) and Benda Pharmaceutical, Inc. (OTC: BPMA $0.03). The founder of Pope Asset Management, Bill Wells, called the firm Pope for the last name of one of his grandfathers. According to the firm’s website, grandfather Pope had “a very successful career on Wall Street” in the 1920’s until “his untimely death at the age of 32.”