FunCom hit with un-fun charges of financial infringement

Not so fun.

There’s news coming out of Norway that FunCom (developers of The Secret World and holders of the Dreamfall license) have been charged with “suspicion of infringement of the provisions of the Securities Trading Act” by Norwegian authorities. Specifically, it’s an organisation called Økokrim levelling the charges; the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime.

The authority is looking at “The financial information given to the market regarding The Secret World from August 2011 until the launch of the game in July 2012 and the two months following the launch.” and also says it has reason to believe FunCom did not maintain adequate financial records during that time. Based on that summary, it seems likely that Økokrim feel FunCom was manipulating the value of The Secret World.

An article on E24 states that FunCom employees were sent home today, while Økokrim officials searched the premises and collected evidence. Earlier, FunCom was suspended on the Norwegian stock exchange.

The piece adds that investigations into FunCom began in the summer of 2012, after the Oslo stock exchange became suspicious of unnamed members of the company’s management selling off substantial shareholdings just before a dramatic decline in value.