The American healthcare actual property firm Medical Properties Belief (MPT) has filed a defamation lawsuit in a U.S. federal courtroom. MPT opposes short-selling Viceroy Research and its three members. Is this a SLAPP lawsuit without merits?
Viceroy with Fraser Perring are certainly the best-known short-sellers on Twitter. They have made many enemies with their revealing reports about Wirecard or the Adler Group. So far, however, the reports have proven to be reliable and correct. However, MTP sees things differently.
In March 2023, Viceroy Research and Fraser Perring were reported to the financial markets regulators SEC, ASIC, and FCA for Market manipulation and wire fraud in the context of MPT, IssueWire reported.
Moreover, MPT has sued Viceroy Research and its members Fraser Perring, Gabriel Bernarde, and Aidan Lau for defamation after short-sellers Viceroy Analysis “repeatedly published unsubstantiated claims to lower the inventory value of the company.”
MPT’s scathing brief alleges that Viceroy‘s analysis conspired against the company to generate income by disseminating false information. As a result, MPT’s lawsuit seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten assets, and compensatory and punitive damages for defamation, civil conspiracy, tortious interference, non-public nuisance, and unjust enrichment.
MPT, which leases hospital properties to medical teams in the U.S., told the Alabama District Court that Viceroy Analysis intentionally and maliciously lied in its reports “about its ties to Steward” in Malta for nefarious reasons and to “bolster its brief attack” on the company by claiming it intentionally concealed personal property in hospitals in Malta associated with Steward.
PayNews42 asked Fraser Perring for a statement. Here’s what he had to say about it!
“We believe MPW’s legal action against Viceroy Research intends to distract investors from unsatisfactory disclosures and poor governance. Management wants to “be seen to be doing something” but instead of coming clean to the market, have lodged what we believe to be a frivolous SLAPP lawsuit against critics. We note that several MPW investors have since launched their own legal actions against the company for misleading investors, several of which utilize Viceroy’s research in their complaints.”