Silvercorp Sues Chinastockwatch.com Alleging Attempt to Drive Down Shares

Silvercorp Metals Inc. (SVM), a Canadian miner of silver in China, sued two websites and their operators for allegedly spreading false information in an effort to drive down the company’s stock price.

Chinastockwatch.com, a New York-based website that posts reports on public companies, and operator Jerry Katz published “false, defamatory and fraudulent statements,” Silvercorp said in the complaint filed yesterday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Alfredlittle.com, website operator Alfred Little and an editor, Simon Moore, also were named as defendants in the lawsuit. Silvercorp seeks punitive damages of at least $10 million and compensatory damages of more than $1 million.

The defendants sought “to artificially drive down the price of Silvercorp common stock in order to obtain illicit profits on short sales,” the Vancouver-based company said in the complaint. Short investors sell borrowed shares with plans to buy them back later at a lower price.

No contact information was listed on Chinastockwatch.com and Katz couldn’t be immediately reached to comment on the lawsuit. Alfredlittle.com didn’t immediately respond to an e- mail and Moore declined to comment in a telephone interview.

The case is Silvercorp Metals Inc. (SVM) vs. Chinastockwatch.com, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Manhattan), 150374/2011.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at [email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at [email protected]