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  "documentTitle": "Lasertec Corporation (6920)",
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  "authorName": "Scorpion Capital",
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  "presentationDate": "2024-06-05 00:00:00",
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  "notes": "The slide uses strong, accusatory language ('fraud', 'epic scam') to frame the findings of an investigative report.",
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      "text": "We conclude that the company's statements - in press releases, earnings calls, presentations, and an in-person IR meeting - are false and an epic scam, based on extensive surveillance.",
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      "text": "We were unable to be invited inside “Fab 4A,” and we conclude – as we show shortly via extensive photographs – that, at best, it is an overflow storage facility for the mountain of finished goods inventory overflowing at headquarters; but that no R&D, production, assembly, or testing takes place at the facility, even if the photos in Lasertec’s presentations accurately depict the interior. In addition to Fab 4A – which the company refers to as the “first round of construction completed in June 2023,” we saw no evidence of meaningful construction for Fab 4B, which it calls “the second round of construction” that supposedly began in Oct 2023 – just an office space with a ladder and few pieces of wood on the floor.",
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      "text": "Across ~20 field visits, our investigators found that the 5-building complex was generally deserted and empty, except for one floor of a small 4-story office building that appeared to house low-level clerical or back-office staff, not R&D. Our investigators never saw any security or guards during any visit – not what one would expect from a facility with cutting-edge R&D, sensitive industrial secrets, intellectual property, and the production or components of $50MM pieces of capital equipment. Our investigators saw no signs or gates forbidding entry onto the complex; wandered freely; were never asked who they were or asked to leave; and in fact were cheerfully welcomed by the occasional maintenance personnel, who were happy to answer questions about the status of the site.",
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      "text": "11. Lasertec’s new “Innovation Park” in Yokohama is a fraud – a purported R&D and production campus with two supposed “fabs” that is 5X the size of its headquarters and its next driver of growth, announced in 2022 as the largest capital expenditure and expansion in its history. Multiple investigators visited the campus ~20 times from Dec 2023 and May 2024 and found a generally deserted and empty facility with no evidence of R&D, production, nor any indication that Fab 4A matches its promotional photos, leading us to wonder if the pics are fake. We conclude that the company’s statements - in press releases, earnings calls, presentations, and an in-person IR meeting - are false and an epic scam, based on extensive surveillance including field visits/interviews; 24/7 time-lapse and motion-detector camera footage over several weeks; and aerial drone surveillance on two occasions. We also hired a local IR consultant who met with the company in March – Lasertec IR agreed to a brief tour of their clean room at headquarters, but strongly refused multiple requests for a tour of the clean room (Fab 4A) at the Park. We then asked for a brief tour of the Park without entering Fab 4A – also refused. Finally, we asked for simply a video clip of Fab 4A, which was also denied.",
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