The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has fined JD.com's (HKG:9618) Shanghai-based on-demand retail and delivery platform Dada Nexus $500,000 for engaging in "sham" online advertising and marketing transactions from October 2022 to September 2023.
The scheme led to material overstatements of net revenue and operating and support costs, the SEC said Friday.
Dada was found to have overstated net revenue by about 568 million yuan and operating and support costs by about 576 million yuan in unaudited financial results during the period.
The JD.com unit identified the transactions during an internal audit in November 2023 and disclosed the report in March 2024, the SEC said.
Dada Nexus did not immediately respond to' request for comment.