Judge Cote has confirmed an American Arbitration Association Award against Petrocom Limited and Petrocom Energy Limited (“Petrocom”), a Chinese coal blending company that was recently highlighted in a New York Times article. The esteemed Tribunal of top international arbitrators determined that Petrocom failed to pay placement agent fees and issue warrants when Westminster Securities Corporation (“Westminster”) raised over $35 million for Petrocom and its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Howard Au. Specifically, the Tribunal awarded Westminster approximately $2,250,000 in damages, which included placement agent compensation, attorneys’ fees and costs and a $50,000 sanction against Petrocom for its “flouting” of the Tribunal’s Order, plus a total of 4,080,000 in Warrants. Considering that these warrants are believed to be valued at $2.00 per warrant (at a minimum), the total damages awarded to Westminster exceeded $10 million.
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