CALIFORNIA : SEC Inquiries Target Turbodyne Technologies : Securities: Nasdaq delisted the firm in April for issuing allegedly misleading news releases about its turbine invention.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is making inquiries about Woodland Hills-based Turbodyne Technologies Inc., a company that was delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market earlier this year, an SEC lawyer confirmed Tuesday.

The SEC refused to confirm or deny that a formal investigation is underway, but the lawyer confirmed that he was seeking information about the company, which claims to have invented an innovative turbine technology.

An attorney involved in a lawsuit against the company received a letter from the SEC in July that denied a Freedom of Information Act request for records. The letter cited an exemption that “protects [from] disclosure records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes.”

Peter Weichselbraun, Turbodyne’s director of corporate communications, said Tuesday that the SEC had made routine inquiries about the company after the stock was delisted from Nasdaq on April 1, but he said he believes there is no ongoing probe. “If anything disturbing would have come up, they [other company officials] would have informed me. But as it is, I believe we are sailing very smoothly.”

Over the last year, however, the company’s path has been anything but smooth.

The firm, which also has international headquarters in Carpinteria, created a stir with what it described as a commercially viable turbine technology that reduces pollution and improves performance in internal combustion engines.

But critics charge that the company vastly overstated both the capabilities and marketability of its products. It was delisted from Nasdaq for issuing allegedly misleading and incomplete news releases, an action the company is appealing.

At least six class-action shareholder lawsuits were filed against the firm. They have since been combined into one.

Lionel Z. Glancy, one of the lead attorneys for the shareholders, said investors poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the firm, which reported a $6.8-million net loss for the first half of 1999. He said the suit, scheduled for a November hearing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, is seeking damages “in the millions of dollars.”

The company, which trades on the European Easdaq exchange, closed Tuesday at $1.81, up 6 cents.