Hi Frank - I've been following this thread for some time and am disappointed in it's deterioration. This news should stir things up:
ASENSIO & COMPANY, INC.: CRYSTALLEX HAS NO DIRECT OR INDIRECT INTEREST
OR CLAIM TO LAS CRISTINAS GOLD CONCESSIONS.
NEW YORK, March 4 /CNW/ -- Asensio & Co. today issued the
following: Asensio & Company, Inc. issued an institutional research report
and initiated coverage of Crystallex International Corporation's (Amex: KRY)
common stock with a Strong Sell and Short Sell recommendation.
Investors have been buying shares of Crystallex International Corporation
believing that a court decision pending in Venezuela can result in Crystallex
obtaining an ownership interest or claim on Venezuela's Las Cristinas gold
concessions. This is completely false and untrue. Crystallex does not and has
never had any direct or indirect ownership interest in Las Cristinas. There
does not exist any legal proceeding or pending decision in any court that can
result in Crystallex having an interest in Las Cristinas. There has never
been a ruling by any court or other authority that can be remotely interpreted
as placing in question the title to the Las Cristinas' gold concessions.
Crystallex lacks any factual basis or legal standing to state it is
presently pursuing such a claim. Information to the contrary is necessarily
false and misleading. We believe that Crystallex has purposely disseminated
such false and misleading information in order to defraud investors. We
believe Crystallex's recent stock rise, and its rise last year, are based on
the belief that it is on the verge of attaining an interest in Las Cristinas.
There is no truth to this belief. As a result, we believe the shares will
soon trade below US$1.00.
Crystallex has approximately 34 million shares and 6.9 million options and
warrants outstanding. The options and warrants are exercisable at an average
price of US$2.40 per share. At yesterday's closing bid price, Crystallex had
a fully diluted market value of over US$300 million. Crystallex's operations
are insignificant and uneconomical. In the latest nine-month period, sales of
US$2.2 million and an operating loss of US$0.95 million were reported before
administrative expenses of US$3.3 million. Administrative expenses include
over US$1.9 million in salaries, consulting, travel, professional fees and
investor relations expenses. The Company's only source of funds is a
combination of stock promotion and options exercise. During 1996 and the nine
month period ending September 30, 1997 Crystallex sold over 7.7 million shares
primarily through the exercise of below market insider options for an average
of US$1.99 per share. In addition, on February 20, 1998 Crystallex announced
it issued an additional 3 million shares through a note converted at
US$3.31 per share. None of these shares were sold in a legitimate public
underwriting. They were sold at a profit by insiders benefiting from
Crystallex's false Las Cristinas pronouncements.
Asensio & Company is a New York based institutional investment bank
specializing in corporate valuations and equity research. Asensio & Company
also specializes in investigating fraudulent stock promotions and publishing
research on grossly overvalued companies. Asensio & Company's published
research reports, including a copy of our report on Crystallex's Las Cristinas
ownership claims and a complete record of our previous Strong Sell reports,
are available on Asensio & Company's internet home page located at
asensio.com. |
