SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- 500.com
Limited (NYSE: WBAI) ("500.com" or the "Company"), a leading online
sports lottery service provider in China, today announced that the Company's
Board of Directors (the "Board") has formed a Special Investigation
Committee ("SIC") to internally investigate alleged illegal money
transfers and the role played by consultants following the arrest
of one consultant(also a former director of the Company's
subsidiary in Japan) and two
former consultants by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors
Office.
Concurrently Mr. Xudong Chen,
Chairman of the Board, has resigned, effective December 30, 2019. Mr. Chen's resignation was not
based on any disagreement with the Company on any matter related
to its business, finance, accounting and/or any other affairs.
In addition, the Board has accepted the request from Mr.
Zhengming Pan, Director and Chief
Executive Officer, to temporarily step aside from his positions,
effective December 30, 2019, until
the conclusion of the SIC's investigation in order to ensure a
thorough and fair investigation.
Mr. Shengwu Wu has been elected
to replace Mr. Chen as Chairman of the Board and Mr. Zhaofu Tian,
500.com's current Chief Technology Officer, has been appointed as
Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective December 30, 2019 until the conclusion of the
SIC's investigation. Mr. Wu will join the Board's Compensation
Committee and chair the Strategic Planning Committee.
Mr. Wu joined Tsinghua Unigroup in September 2019 as an Executive Vice President.
Prior to joining Tsinghua Unigroup, Mr. Wu served as the Deputy
Director of the Department of Electronic Information under the
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China. Mr. Wu holds a
Ph.D from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, as well as
a master's and a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University.
The SIC of the Board is composed of Mr. Shengwu Wu, Chairman of the Board,
Mr. Honghui Deng and
Ms. Angel Yan Ki Wong,
each independent director of the Board, and Ms. Amy Yang Zhou, General Manager of the
International Collaboration Department of Tsinghua Unigroup.
About 500.com Limited
500.com Limited (NYSE: WBAI) is a leading online sports lottery
service provider in China. The
Company offers a comprehensive and integrated suite of online
lottery services, information, user tools and virtual community
venues to its users. 500.com was among the first companies to
provide online lottery services in China, and is one of two entities that have
been approved by the Ministry of Finance to provide online lottery
sales services on behalf of the China Sports Lottery Administration
Center, which is the government authority that is in charge of the
issuance and sale of sports lottery products in China.
Safe Harbor Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be
identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates,"
"future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "target,"
"going forward," "outlook" and similar statements. Such statements
are based upon management's current expectations and current market
and operating conditions, and relate to events that involve known
or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are
difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's
control, which may cause the Company's actual results, performance
or achievements to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and
other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Company does not undertake any obligation to update any
forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, except as required under law.
For more information, please contact:
500.com Limited
ir@500wan.com
Christensen
In China
Mr. Christian Arnell
Phone: +86-10-5900-1548
E-mail: carnell@christensenir.com
In US
Ms. Linda Bergkamp
Phone: +1-480-614-3004
Email: lbergkamp@ChristensenIR.com
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SOURCE 500.com Limited