Luckin Coffee shakes up boardroom amidst accounting scandal
Some investors questioned the voting process.
Luckin Coffee has appointed a new chairman and chief executive officer, part of a boardroom shakeup that is the latest of consequences due to a substantial fraud scandal.
In a statement, the embattled chain said Jinyi Guo, who stepped up as acting CEO in May, was given the job permanently, along with the chair position.
A co-founder of the business, he replaced former chairman and co-founder Charles Zhengyao Lu, who was voted out by shareholders.
Yang Cha, Feng Liu, Jie Yang and Ying Zeng were appointed as new independent directors whilst David Hui Li, Erhai Liu and Sean Shao left the board following an extraordinary general meeting on 5 July 5 and a board meeting last 12 July.
Whilst shareholders voted to remove Lu and the other three directors, the Wall Street Journal reported that some investors cried foul because Lu had nominated two of the new members to the board, potentially giving him ongoing influence at the company.
Luckin dismissed CEO Jenny Zhiya Qian, COO Jian Liu and some employees who reported to them in May, after revealing the scheme that funneled funds to the company from several third parties with links to the participants.
