Experts say it all started with a song by the American singer and guitarist Muddy Waters.
Fanning the flames is an army of private investigators, bloggers and Wall Street short-sellers that hope to profit from the stock-market implosions, like Muddy Waters.
The claim was made by Muddy Waters Research, a firm that "sees through appearances to a Chinese company's true worth", and which shorted Sino-Forest's stock.
Muddy Waters accused Focus Media of overstating the number of TV screens in its network and of hiding losses by deliberately overpaying for acquisitions.
专家称，这一切始于美国歌手兼吉他手马迪·沃特斯(Muddy Waters)的一首歌。
This month, a special board committee said it found no fraud at the company in response to a Muddy Waters report this year that said the forestry firm misrepresented the value of its timber holdings.
