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Membru Junior
PC cooling specialist Zalman goes bankrupt due to fraud
If you’ve built your own PC at any point over the past 15 years, chances are you’ve either considered or used a cooling product made by Zalman. The South Korean company has done a lot to progress the field of keeping our computer components cool while also keeping noise levels to an absolute minimum. However, they won’t be doing that anymore because Zalman has gone bankrupt.
The reason for its bankruptcy isn’t anything to do with its own products or performance, in fact this news may even come as a shock to Zalman employees. The reason the company has collapsed is due to the actions of its parent company Moneual, and more specifically its CEO and vice presidents.
Moneual CEO Harold Park, and vice presidents Scott Park and Won Duck-yeok, have apparently spent the last five years producing fraudulent documentation relating to the sales performance of Zalman. These documents inflated sales figures and export data for Zalman’s products. The reason? Bank loans.
By increasing sales and exports Park and his associates were able to secure bank loans totaling $2.98 billion. Someone has finally realized what has been going on, though, triggering Zalman’s shares to be suspended on the stock market and the company filing for bankruptcy protection. The questions now turn to how this practice was allowed to continue unnoticed for so long and how the banks will go about getting their near $3 billion back?
It seems unlikely Zalman will make it through what is sure to be a long process filled with lawsuits and prosecutions. However, the company does hold a number of patents relating to cooling and fan noise reduction technology. They will be worth something, and it seems likely a patent sale will happen eventually. Zalman’s competitors, including companies such as Cooler Master and Thermaltake will surely take an interest when that happens.