Inside Charge Enterprises: An FBI Sting Operation, Penny Stock Promotion, Money Laundering & A Plethora Of Fruitless Ventures
Dear readers,
Today we publish on Charge Enterprises (NASDAQ: CRGE), a $900M EV charging roll-up which we believe is blatantly overvalued based upon our extensive research. Below, we present a synopsis of our findings along with our report.
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Summary
Charge Enterprises owns a portfolio of electric vehicle charging & telecom infrastructure businesses worth a market cap of roughly $900M.
Charge claims to be building a network of electric vehicle infrastructure across North America. Records show they are building parking for Amazon vans.
Our diligence reveals individuals associated with Charge appear to have a checkered history of alleged fraud, money laundering, and failed penny stock promotion.
Our work unveils a transcript in which the CEO of Charge’s predecessor company [GoIP Global] tries to bribe an undercover FBI agent in exchange for investment in GoIP.
Before entering the EV business, GoIP transitioned from an energy tech business to growing cannabis. They told investors in 2019 it was acquiring a Kenyan cannabis license. The Kenyan government denied ever issuing them a license.
We uncovered that Charge’s founder previously plead guilty to money laundering, declared bankruptcy in 2017, and was involved in alleged pump & dumps.
We closely examined each of Charge’s five acquisitions and found striking problems with various transactions as outlined below.
Charge’s latest acquisition, EV Group Holdings LLC, has ties to an individual barred from the SEC due to purported fraudulent investment dealings in 2014 & later the primary recipient of alleged stolen investors funds.
Charge’s first foray into the EV space through the acquisition of GetCharged has been largely written off despite paying $28M for it two years ago.
Per our photographic evidence, GetCharged has removed its electric charging stations for e-scooters & e-bikes even though it promised in 2019 that it was building out a network of 3,000+ chargers.
The company has now resorted to renting out phone charger stations. Import records show these can be bought off Alibaba’s retail website.
These charging stations are predominantly located in Boost Mobile stores; our research indicates they are unlikely to be used and often do not exist [in some cases].
Charge made their first acquisition [PTGi] for less than $1M; we believe its revenue and razor thin margins are quickly deteriorating.
Ironically, 85%+ (akin to $451M) of Charge’s annual revenue comes from this low calorie acquisition.
The acquisition has allowed Charge to appear “undervalued” relative to EV peers from a revenue multiple standpoint.
Based on these factors, we believe Charge Enterprises is overvalued and worth less than $.15 a share, implying downside greater than 95%.
Till next time,
Peabody
Disclaimer: We have taken a short position in Charge Enterprises, Inc. We encourage everyone to do their own due diligence. Please see the attached report for our full legal disclaimer.