China's Capstone Shares Tumble After Workers Attack Hemp Probe Officers
Zhang Yushuo
DATE:  May 24 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China's Capstone Shares Tumble After Workers Attack Hemp Probe Officers China's Capstone Shares Tumble After Workers Attack Hemp Probe Officers

(Yicai Global) May 24 -- The stocks of Capstone Industrial have slumped this morning after two of the advertising firm's employees were arrested because they refused to accept a notice about an investigation into the company's plan to branch out into industrial hemp business. 

Capstone's share price [SHE: 000038] tumbled by the daily limit of 10 percent to CNY11 (USD1.60), shaving CNY1.6 million  (USD226,616) off its market cap.

The two workers were sentenced to be detained for five and nine days and another one was given a warning after physically objecting inspectors that were trying to give them a letter of investigation from the China Securities Regulatory Commission on May 22, the Nanshan branch of Shenzhen's public security bureau reported.

The employees assaulted the female officers verbally and pushed them, which caused the inspectors' recorder to fall to the ground. The two women called the police to secure their safety after receiving scratches to their hands and arms, the Securities Times reported. 

Capstone's acts express its refusal to cooperate with the investigation and comply with the law, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. 

The CSRC was trying to reach the Shenzhen-based firm's actual controller because Capstone has publicly announced that it is entering the industrial hemp sector. Shenzhen's bourse asked the company to clarify earlier whether it has the technical means and qualifications to embark on the hemp business or whether those announcements are publicity stunts. 

Other Chinese firms, including Tonghua Golden-Horse Pharmaceutical Industry and Shunhuo New Materials Science & Technology, have this year announced their plans to grow industrial hemp, used to extract cannabidiol, causing their stocks to rally.

Editor: Emmi Laine

Follow Yicai Global on
Keywords:   Capstone