Photo: IC

Luckin Coffee, the US-listed Chinese firm which saw its stock price plunge 70 percent overnight due to alleged sales fabrication, witnessed a dramatic "sales jump" on Friday, as Chinese coffee lovers rushed to its chain stores to consume coupons and deposited money.

"The app shows that I need to wait for about two hours before taking my order at 10 am," a white-collar worker surnamed Zheng, based in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, told the Global Times on Friday. The waiting time is quite long compared with less than 10 minutes in normal times.

The coffee start-up, widely regarded as Starbuck's China rival, admitted on Thursday that its chief operating officer, Liu Jian, and his subordinates "had engaged in certain misconduct, including fabricating certain transactions."  The fraudulent sales was reportedly totaling 2.2 billion yuan. 

Zheng said he immediately decided to consume all his coupons for Luckin Coffee after seeing the news. "What if the company soon goes bankrupt? I don't want to lose my money," Zheng explained.

He was informed by an employee at the Luckin Coffee store that there are more than 100 orders ahead of his, which "has never happened before."

Luckin's financial fraud has also sparked a chain reaction to its affiliated companies. 

CAR Inc, the largest car rental company in China, suspended trading at the Hong Kong stock market on Friday pending an announcement. The company, which has the same chairman as scandal-hit Luckin Coffee, saw its shares plunge 54 percent during morning trading Friday.

If the fraud is proven to be true, the start-up could receive a sky-high regulatory fine from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It could also be delisted from the exchange, Liu An, a postdoctoral fellow in theoretical economics told the Global Times on Friday.

In addition, the company could face up to an $11.2 billion bill over investors' compensation claims. The Global Times reported earlier that many investors have reached out to law firms regarding litigation claims on a class action basis to recoup damage from the company. 

China's securities regulator, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said on Friday it is paying attention to Luckin Coffee's financial scandal and it condemns the company's misconduct.

"Listed firms, wherever they are listed, must strictly abide by relevant market laws and rules, perform their information disclosure obligations in a truthful, accurate and complete manner," the statement said. 

Luckin Coffee is registered in the Cayman Islands, and CSRC said it will look into the firm's misconduct in accordance with the arrangements of international securities regulatory cooperation, and resolutely crack down on securities fraud.