Chevron in Talks for $3 Billion Renewable Energy Group Deal
Liana Baker and Kiel Porter
Fri, February 25, 2022, 2:17 PM·1 min read
(Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp. is in advanced talks to buy Renewable Energy Group Inc. for about $3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, as the oil major looks to make a big bet on green diesel.
Renewable Energy rose more than 36% in after-market trading on the news.
Chevron is discussing paying $61.50 per share for Renewable Energy, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. A deal could be announced as soon as next week, the people added. No final decision has been made and the terms could change or talks could still fall through.
Renewable Energy closed up 1.7% to $43.81 in New York trading Friday, giving the company a market value of about $2.2 billion.
Representatives for Chevron and Renewable Energy declined to comment.
The deal would give a significant boost to Chevron’s push into renewable fuels, demand for which is expected to grow in the coming years as businesses and governments move away from oil and gas to cut carbon emissions. Chevron said last year that it expects to invest $10 billion through 2028 on low-carbon technologies.
Based in Ames, Iowa, Renewable Energy describes itself as North America’s largest producer of advanced biofuels. Led by Chief Executive Officer Cynthia “CJ” Warner, it turns feedstock into fuel at more than a dozen locations in the U.S. and Germany, according to its most recent annual report.
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Investors Embrace Lula and Stoke Furious Rally in Brazil
“Lula is the devil that we know”
VinÃcius Andrade and Augusta Saraiva
Fri, February 25, 2022,
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Investors Embrace Lula and Stoke Furious Rally in Brazil
(Bloomberg) -- After embracing Jair Bolsonaro’s anti-establishment stance just four years ago, investors are now warming to a very familiar face in Brazilian politics: Lula.
Money managers are piling into the nation’s assets, sending the currency to the highest level since July and fueling a world-beating rally in stocks after a horrible year for both. The inflows come on the back of aggressive interest rate hikes that have sent yields soaring and even as Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the left-wing leader who ran he country two decades ago, mounts a comeback.
Lula, who leads early polls for the October vote, hasn’t given a clear direction of his core economic policies yet. While his advisers point to more spending if he is elected, investors are betting on his pragmatism and signals toward moderation, much like he showed in his first election in 2002.
Back then, they had initially dumped stocks and bonds on fears that he would default, but were reassured by his pledge to honor the country’s sovereign debt and keep the nation’s fiscal accounts in check -- and went on to reap gains in almost all of his eight years in office. The shine wore off as his Workers’ Party was engulfed by corruption scandals that landed him in jail and his handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, throttled economic growth with an ever-growing web of restrictions and controls.
“Lula is the devil that we know,” said Edwin Gutierrez, the head of emerging-market sovereign debt at abrdn in London. “He’ll say things that will upset the market from time to time regarding energy prices and the role of the state, but overall, he isn’t going to mark a return to the Dilma era.”
The Brazilian real has strengthened more than 9% against the dollar this year, the most among all currencies in the world, despite the escalating conflict in Ukraine that has sapped risk appetite. Foreign investors added over 56 billion reais to the local equity market this year ($11 billion), helping to send the Ibovespa benchmark index up 15% in dollar terms. Offshore money has poured into Brazilian stocks for every single session since mid-December, the best run since at least 2008.
The perceived decline in local political risk has added to optimism with Brazilian assets, which were already becoming more appealing to foreign money amid rising yields and cheap valuations. Even after the recent rally, the Ibovespa is trading at 8.3 times forward earnings, well below its 10-year average of 11.7. Meanwhile, the central bank is expected to raise rates to above 12% in the coming months, up from 2% a year ago.
“Foreigners return to Brazil from time to time, doing the same trades and causing the same market distortions,” said Felipe Guerra, founding partner at local hedge fund manager Legacy Capital, at an event earlier this month. “Then they go away and leave us” with the problem, he said.
But even locals, who haven’t been as bullish as foreigners, are turning more optimistic. Brazil-based funds trimmed their long dollar hedges by $2.6 billion since Jan. 3, according to local exchange data compiled by Bloomberg.
The warm welcome for Lula is nothing like last year, when markets briefly panicked on the prospect he would run for office again after a judge tossed out criminal convictions against him. Signs the former union leader may be elected also sent chills through markets in 2018, when he was ultimately barred from running, and in 2002, when investors sent stocks and the currency down as much as 40% in the year and ditched the nation’s bonds amid default concerns.
This time, it took Lula only a hint of moderation to convince investors that his third mandate wouldn’t be this harmful for the economy and markets. In between criticism of state-run oil company Petrobras and comments on reviewing the nation’s labor laws, the former president signaled he could tap centrist former Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin to join his ticket as vice president. The nod to a moderate running partner sent the real rallying.
“Lula’s smart enough to know what he has to say in order to get the market comfortable,” said Cathy Hepworth, head of emerging markets debt at PGIM Fixed Income. “He’s done this before.”
Overseas investors were also encouraged by similar episodes in Chile and Peru, where recently elected leftist presidents toned down their speeches after winning.
Despite the rally, a sluggish recovery in Latin America’s top economy, double-digit inflation and potential for further public spending ahead of the October vote still pose risks. Incumbent Bolsonaro has flirted with additional expenses as he seeks to boost his approval ratings ahead of the election.
Chances of winning
Lula has led most election polls since he was cleared to run for office early last year, and the latest one showed a 17 percentage-point advantage over incumbent Bolsonaro in the first round. Political consultancy Eurasia gives him a 70% chance of winning.
During his tenure, a surge in commodities and orthodox picks for the economy ministry and the central bank helped keep fiscal accounts in check and catapult Brazil to market-darling status. The former president oversaw a 113% rally in the real, the best-performing emerging-market currency in the span. Stocks surged six-fold in his eight years in office.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro, who rose to power in 2018 on an anti-establishment, anti-left wing platform, has been struggling as inflation eats into Brazilians’ purchasing power and the economy posts lackluster growth.
In the 2018 election run-up, markets rallied on bets Bolsonaro would seek to shrink the size of the state and approve a series of economic reforms. While he delivered some promises -- including a much awaited overhaul of the pension system -- he also spooked markets by spending big during the pandemic.
“Bolsonaro would be an A-, if he has a second term. Lula is more of a B, but I don’t think he’s going to be a D,” said Jason Devito, a Pittsburgh-based money manager at Federated Investment Management Co., which has $669 billion under management. “I’m not expecting a disastrous outcome here.”
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
“Lula is the devil that we know”
VinÃcius Andrade and Augusta Saraiva
Fri, February 25, 2022,
Investors Embrace Lula and Stoke Furious Rally in Brazil
(Bloomberg) -- After embracing Jair Bolsonaro’s anti-establishment stance just four years ago, investors are now warming to a very familiar face in Brazilian politics: Lula.
Money managers are piling into the nation’s assets, sending the currency to the highest level since July and fueling a world-beating rally in stocks after a horrible year for both. The inflows come on the back of aggressive interest rate hikes that have sent yields soaring and even as Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the left-wing leader who ran he country two decades ago, mounts a comeback.
Lula, who leads early polls for the October vote, hasn’t given a clear direction of his core economic policies yet. While his advisers point to more spending if he is elected, investors are betting on his pragmatism and signals toward moderation, much like he showed in his first election in 2002.
Back then, they had initially dumped stocks and bonds on fears that he would default, but were reassured by his pledge to honor the country’s sovereign debt and keep the nation’s fiscal accounts in check -- and went on to reap gains in almost all of his eight years in office. The shine wore off as his Workers’ Party was engulfed by corruption scandals that landed him in jail and his handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, throttled economic growth with an ever-growing web of restrictions and controls.
“Lula is the devil that we know,” said Edwin Gutierrez, the head of emerging-market sovereign debt at abrdn in London. “He’ll say things that will upset the market from time to time regarding energy prices and the role of the state, but overall, he isn’t going to mark a return to the Dilma era.”
The Brazilian real has strengthened more than 9% against the dollar this year, the most among all currencies in the world, despite the escalating conflict in Ukraine that has sapped risk appetite. Foreign investors added over 56 billion reais to the local equity market this year ($11 billion), helping to send the Ibovespa benchmark index up 15% in dollar terms. Offshore money has poured into Brazilian stocks for every single session since mid-December, the best run since at least 2008.
The perceived decline in local political risk has added to optimism with Brazilian assets, which were already becoming more appealing to foreign money amid rising yields and cheap valuations. Even after the recent rally, the Ibovespa is trading at 8.3 times forward earnings, well below its 10-year average of 11.7. Meanwhile, the central bank is expected to raise rates to above 12% in the coming months, up from 2% a year ago.
“Foreigners return to Brazil from time to time, doing the same trades and causing the same market distortions,” said Felipe Guerra, founding partner at local hedge fund manager Legacy Capital, at an event earlier this month. “Then they go away and leave us” with the problem, he said.
But even locals, who haven’t been as bullish as foreigners, are turning more optimistic. Brazil-based funds trimmed their long dollar hedges by $2.6 billion since Jan. 3, according to local exchange data compiled by Bloomberg.
The warm welcome for Lula is nothing like last year, when markets briefly panicked on the prospect he would run for office again after a judge tossed out criminal convictions against him. Signs the former union leader may be elected also sent chills through markets in 2018, when he was ultimately barred from running, and in 2002, when investors sent stocks and the currency down as much as 40% in the year and ditched the nation’s bonds amid default concerns.
This time, it took Lula only a hint of moderation to convince investors that his third mandate wouldn’t be this harmful for the economy and markets. In between criticism of state-run oil company Petrobras and comments on reviewing the nation’s labor laws, the former president signaled he could tap centrist former Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckmin to join his ticket as vice president. The nod to a moderate running partner sent the real rallying.
“Lula’s smart enough to know what he has to say in order to get the market comfortable,” said Cathy Hepworth, head of emerging markets debt at PGIM Fixed Income. “He’s done this before.”
Overseas investors were also encouraged by similar episodes in Chile and Peru, where recently elected leftist presidents toned down their speeches after winning.
Despite the rally, a sluggish recovery in Latin America’s top economy, double-digit inflation and potential for further public spending ahead of the October vote still pose risks. Incumbent Bolsonaro has flirted with additional expenses as he seeks to boost his approval ratings ahead of the election.
Chances of winning
Lula has led most election polls since he was cleared to run for office early last year, and the latest one showed a 17 percentage-point advantage over incumbent Bolsonaro in the first round. Political consultancy Eurasia gives him a 70% chance of winning.
During his tenure, a surge in commodities and orthodox picks for the economy ministry and the central bank helped keep fiscal accounts in check and catapult Brazil to market-darling status. The former president oversaw a 113% rally in the real, the best-performing emerging-market currency in the span. Stocks surged six-fold in his eight years in office.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro, who rose to power in 2018 on an anti-establishment, anti-left wing platform, has been struggling as inflation eats into Brazilians’ purchasing power and the economy posts lackluster growth.
In the 2018 election run-up, markets rallied on bets Bolsonaro would seek to shrink the size of the state and approve a series of economic reforms. While he delivered some promises -- including a much awaited overhaul of the pension system -- he also spooked markets by spending big during the pandemic.
“Bolsonaro would be an A-, if he has a second term. Lula is more of a B, but I don’t think he’s going to be a D,” said Jason Devito, a Pittsburgh-based money manager at Federated Investment Management Co., which has $669 billion under management. “I’m not expecting a disastrous outcome here.”
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
NOT AS EFFECTIVE AS A CARBON TAX
California Cap-And-Trade Auction Fails to Sell Out
David R Baker
Thu, February 24, 2022,
(Bloomberg) -- The latest quarterly auction in California’s cap-and-trade carbon market failed to sell out, a sign that a growing surplus of banked credits may be hampering the system used to fight climate change.
The market, which also includes the Canadian province of Quebec, holds quarterly auctions of “allowances,” each of which gives the holder the right to emit one ton of greenhouse gases. The number of allowances available decreases over time, giving companies an incentive to cut their emissions. Holders can also sell their allowances on a secondary market.
The most recent quarterly auction, held Feb. 16, sold out all available allowances to be used in the current year, at a price of $29.15 each, according to results published Thursday by the California Air Resources Board. But about 11% of allowances meant to be used in the future failed to sell, and the price for such future allowances fell to $19.70. That’s a steep decline from the last quarterly auction, in November, when future allowances sold for $34.01.
Concern has been growing that companies participating in the market have been buying and holding more allowances than they actually need, in part because the pandemic reduced economic activity in both California and Quebec. A recent report from an independent market monitoring committee warned such banked credits could hinder California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.
California Cap-And-Trade Auction Fails to Sell Out
David R Baker
Thu, February 24, 2022,
(Bloomberg) -- The latest quarterly auction in California’s cap-and-trade carbon market failed to sell out, a sign that a growing surplus of banked credits may be hampering the system used to fight climate change.
The market, which also includes the Canadian province of Quebec, holds quarterly auctions of “allowances,” each of which gives the holder the right to emit one ton of greenhouse gases. The number of allowances available decreases over time, giving companies an incentive to cut their emissions. Holders can also sell their allowances on a secondary market.
The most recent quarterly auction, held Feb. 16, sold out all available allowances to be used in the current year, at a price of $29.15 each, according to results published Thursday by the California Air Resources Board. But about 11% of allowances meant to be used in the future failed to sell, and the price for such future allowances fell to $19.70. That’s a steep decline from the last quarterly auction, in November, when future allowances sold for $34.01.
Concern has been growing that companies participating in the market have been buying and holding more allowances than they actually need, in part because the pandemic reduced economic activity in both California and Quebec. A recent report from an independent market monitoring committee warned such banked credits could hinder California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Canada to buy COVID vaccine made in Research Triangle Park. Here’s how it’s different.
Richard Stradling
Sat, February 26, 2022,
A new plant-based COVID-19 vaccine that will be made in Research Triangle Park has been approved by health regulators in Canada, where the government has agreed to buy millions of doses.
The vaccine, COVIFENZ, was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Medicago, a Canadian biopharmaceutical company based in Quebec City. Medicago will begin manufacturing the vaccine at its plant in RTP later this spring, said Brian Ward, the company’s medical officer.
Ward said the company has a contract to supply up to 76 million doses of the vaccine to the Canadian government and expects to ship 20 million doses this year.
Medicago uses plants to produce what it calls “virus-like particles” that mimic the structure of viruses and trigger an immune response in the body. The company says because the particles lack core genetic material they are non-infectious and unable to reproduce.
Health Canada, the Canadian version of the Food and Drug Administration, approved COVIFENZ on Thursday for use in adults ages 18 to 64. It cited clinical trials that showed the vaccine was safe and 71% effective against all variants of the COVID-19 virus except for omicron, which wasn’t circulating during the study period.
Clinical studies measuring the response against the omicron variant should be finished in the coming weeks, according to spokeswoman Lindsey Bailys. Nearly all new cases of COVID-19 in the United States are caused by the omicron variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Medicago and GSK are also seeking approval for COVIFENZ from the FDA, the World Health Organization and health regulators in the United Kingdom.
Like the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, two doses of COVIFENZ are needed to be fully effective. Pfizer and Moderna both reported that two doses of their vaccines were more than 90% effective against COVID-19, though that effectiveness waned over time, prompting both companies and public health officials to urge booster shots.
COVIFENZ arrives more than a year after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines became available and at a time when many people are acting as if the coronavirus pandemic is over.
But the virus has not shown signs of going away, and Medicago says there’s still a strong market for vaccines, especially one that might appeal to different people because of how it’s made.
“COVIFENZ is the first COVID-19 plant-based vaccine, which diversifies the pool of vaccines available to help improve public health and protect more people,” Ward wrote in an email. “We are in discussion with several countries regarding supply,” though he declined to name them because the discussions are “confidential in nature.”
Medicago opened its RTP plant and greenhouses in 2010 using a grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. At the time, the agency was looking for ways to make large quantities of vaccine to respond to epidemics, bioterrorist attacks and other public health emergencies.
The company employed about 200 in RTP as of December and is looking to fill about 40 positions as it gears up to produce COVIFENZ.
In this Aug. 14, 2014, photo, biotech greenhouse specialist
Richard Stradling
Sat, February 26, 2022,
A new plant-based COVID-19 vaccine that will be made in Research Triangle Park has been approved by health regulators in Canada, where the government has agreed to buy millions of doses.
The vaccine, COVIFENZ, was developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Medicago, a Canadian biopharmaceutical company based in Quebec City. Medicago will begin manufacturing the vaccine at its plant in RTP later this spring, said Brian Ward, the company’s medical officer.
Ward said the company has a contract to supply up to 76 million doses of the vaccine to the Canadian government and expects to ship 20 million doses this year.
Medicago uses plants to produce what it calls “virus-like particles” that mimic the structure of viruses and trigger an immune response in the body. The company says because the particles lack core genetic material they are non-infectious and unable to reproduce.
Health Canada, the Canadian version of the Food and Drug Administration, approved COVIFENZ on Thursday for use in adults ages 18 to 64. It cited clinical trials that showed the vaccine was safe and 71% effective against all variants of the COVID-19 virus except for omicron, which wasn’t circulating during the study period.
Clinical studies measuring the response against the omicron variant should be finished in the coming weeks, according to spokeswoman Lindsey Bailys. Nearly all new cases of COVID-19 in the United States are caused by the omicron variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Medicago and GSK are also seeking approval for COVIFENZ from the FDA, the World Health Organization and health regulators in the United Kingdom.
Like the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, two doses of COVIFENZ are needed to be fully effective. Pfizer and Moderna both reported that two doses of their vaccines were more than 90% effective against COVID-19, though that effectiveness waned over time, prompting both companies and public health officials to urge booster shots.
COVIFENZ arrives more than a year after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines became available and at a time when many people are acting as if the coronavirus pandemic is over.
But the virus has not shown signs of going away, and Medicago says there’s still a strong market for vaccines, especially one that might appeal to different people because of how it’s made.
“COVIFENZ is the first COVID-19 plant-based vaccine, which diversifies the pool of vaccines available to help improve public health and protect more people,” Ward wrote in an email. “We are in discussion with several countries regarding supply,” though he declined to name them because the discussions are “confidential in nature.”
Medicago opened its RTP plant and greenhouses in 2010 using a grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. At the time, the agency was looking for ways to make large quantities of vaccine to respond to epidemics, bioterrorist attacks and other public health emergencies.
The company employed about 200 in RTP as of December and is looking to fill about 40 positions as it gears up to produce COVIFENZ.
In this Aug. 14, 2014, photo, biotech greenhouse specialist
Maggie Cole waters tobacco seedlings at Medicago in Research Triangle Park.
Canada Approves First Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine
Vandana Singh
Fri, February 25, 2022
As Sanofi SA (NASDAQ: SNY) and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's (NYSE: GSK) COVID-19 vaccine finally heads to regulators, another shot using GSK's pandemic adjuvant has won its first global approval.
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation-backed Medicago's recombinant COVID-19 vaccine, dubbed Covifenz, has snagged a green light in Canada in individuals 18 to 64 years of age.
The vaccine uses a plant-based virus-like particles technology to mimic the coronavirus' spike protein and is combined with GSK's pandemic adjuvant.
Covifenz marks the first approved vaccine for Medicago and the first nod for a COVID shot using GSK's pandemic adjuvant.
Related: Medicago, GSK's Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Hits 75% Efficacy Against Delta Strain.
In a Phase 3 trial conducted in more than 24,000 adults, Covifenz showed a 71% efficacy against COVID-19 by various SARS-CoV-2 variants, though not omicron because the now-dominant variant wasn't present at the time of the study.
The virus-like particles platform allows Covifenz to be stored at normal refrigeration conditions from 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius. Two doses of the vaccine are given intramuscularly 21 days apart.
Also See: Sanofi-GSK Prepare Regulatory Filings For COVID-19 Vaccine After Booster Data.
Price Action: GSK shares are up 1.53% at $41.82 during the premarket session on the last check Friday.
See more from Benzinga
BioMarin Clocks Flat Q4 Sales Despite Erosion oF US Kuvan Market
Sanofi-GSK Prepare Regulatory Filings For COVID-19 Vaccine After Booster Data
© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Vandana Singh
Fri, February 25, 2022
As Sanofi SA (NASDAQ: SNY) and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's (NYSE: GSK) COVID-19 vaccine finally heads to regulators, another shot using GSK's pandemic adjuvant has won its first global approval.
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation-backed Medicago's recombinant COVID-19 vaccine, dubbed Covifenz, has snagged a green light in Canada in individuals 18 to 64 years of age.
The vaccine uses a plant-based virus-like particles technology to mimic the coronavirus' spike protein and is combined with GSK's pandemic adjuvant.
Covifenz marks the first approved vaccine for Medicago and the first nod for a COVID shot using GSK's pandemic adjuvant.
Related: Medicago, GSK's Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Hits 75% Efficacy Against Delta Strain.
In a Phase 3 trial conducted in more than 24,000 adults, Covifenz showed a 71% efficacy against COVID-19 by various SARS-CoV-2 variants, though not omicron because the now-dominant variant wasn't present at the time of the study.
The virus-like particles platform allows Covifenz to be stored at normal refrigeration conditions from 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius. Two doses of the vaccine are given intramuscularly 21 days apart.
Also See: Sanofi-GSK Prepare Regulatory Filings For COVID-19 Vaccine After Booster Data.
Price Action: GSK shares are up 1.53% at $41.82 during the premarket session on the last check Friday.
See more from Benzinga
BioMarin Clocks Flat Q4 Sales Despite Erosion oF US Kuvan Market
Sanofi-GSK Prepare Regulatory Filings For COVID-19 Vaccine After Booster Data
© 2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
SCHADENFREUDE
Billionaire Accused of Anti-Vax Misinfo Now Reportedly Has COVID
Noah Kirsch
Sat, February 26, 2022
Getty
He was an unvaxxed billionaire accused of spreading anti-vaccine misinformation. Now he reportedly has COVID.
Clive Palmer, the 67-year-old Australian mining magnate and political provocateur, is battling both the coronavirus and pneumonia, according to unnamed sources cited by The Australian. The outlet reported that the billionaire “remains very sick.”
Earlier this week, Palmer was transported to the hospital in an ambulance after experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19. He was pictured leaving the hospital wearing a face mask that did not cover his nose.
“I’m not vaccinated and I don’t intend to be vaccinated,” the billionaire proudly declared at a rally last year.
A spokesperson for Palmer could not immediately be reached for comment or to confirm the news.
In recent months the tycoon has made headlines for his political aspirations, as he leverages both a Trumpian playbook and enormous sums of cash to advance his United Australia Party.
As the Sydney Morning Herald reported this week, he has dropped more than $20 million on attack ads since the summer, “100 times more than [the] major parties.”
“Think about in the United States one of the Koch brothers running for president or something and outspending the Democrats and the Republicans,” University of Sydney senior lecturer Peter Chen told The Daily Beast earlier this month, of Palmer’s political spending. “It’s that sort of crazy money.”
Despite his ad blitzes, the billionaire remains hugely unpopular. As of December, polling showed that just 8 percent of the country had a positive view of him, compared to 59 percent with a negative opinion, making him Australia’s “least likable politician.”
There are mixed opinions about whether Palmer has sincere political ambitions or whether he is simply trolling. Others believe he is just trying to intimidate his way into favorable mining policies.
“One of the most dangerous places to be in Australia is between Clive Palmer and his business interests. He is obsessed with money and obsessed with talking about his wealth,” Member of Parliament Patrick Gorman told The Daily Beast last month.
As Australia readies for elections this spring, time will tell whether Palmer can bounce back quickly to exert his influence in the final stretch.
Noah Kirsch
Sat, February 26, 2022
Getty
He was an unvaxxed billionaire accused of spreading anti-vaccine misinformation. Now he reportedly has COVID.
Clive Palmer, the 67-year-old Australian mining magnate and political provocateur, is battling both the coronavirus and pneumonia, according to unnamed sources cited by The Australian. The outlet reported that the billionaire “remains very sick.”
Earlier this week, Palmer was transported to the hospital in an ambulance after experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19. He was pictured leaving the hospital wearing a face mask that did not cover his nose.
“I’m not vaccinated and I don’t intend to be vaccinated,” the billionaire proudly declared at a rally last year.
A spokesperson for Palmer could not immediately be reached for comment or to confirm the news.
In recent months the tycoon has made headlines for his political aspirations, as he leverages both a Trumpian playbook and enormous sums of cash to advance his United Australia Party.
As the Sydney Morning Herald reported this week, he has dropped more than $20 million on attack ads since the summer, “100 times more than [the] major parties.”
“Think about in the United States one of the Koch brothers running for president or something and outspending the Democrats and the Republicans,” University of Sydney senior lecturer Peter Chen told The Daily Beast earlier this month, of Palmer’s political spending. “It’s that sort of crazy money.”
Despite his ad blitzes, the billionaire remains hugely unpopular. As of December, polling showed that just 8 percent of the country had a positive view of him, compared to 59 percent with a negative opinion, making him Australia’s “least likable politician.”
There are mixed opinions about whether Palmer has sincere political ambitions or whether he is simply trolling. Others believe he is just trying to intimidate his way into favorable mining policies.
“One of the most dangerous places to be in Australia is between Clive Palmer and his business interests. He is obsessed with money and obsessed with talking about his wealth,” Member of Parliament Patrick Gorman told The Daily Beast last month.
As Australia readies for elections this spring, time will tell whether Palmer can bounce back quickly to exert his influence in the final stretch.
Op-Ed: The anti-vax movement was already getting scary. COVID supercharged it
John P. Moore
Fri, February 25, 2022
Dozens of anti-vax protesters rally in front of Los Angeles City Hall last September. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Conspiracy theorists' disinformation has led to the deaths of thousands of Americans every week by discouraging COVID-19 vaccinations. That toll will end up being a tiny fraction of the anti-vax movement’s body count.
Even when this pandemic is over, an energized base of anti-vaxxers will lead to more deaths for years to come. The uptake of standard childhood vaccines was already declining before COVID-19 hit, leaving more and more children vulnerable to diseases like diphtheria, measles, rubella, mumps, tetanus and whooping cough. Since the pandemic began, we’re also seeing more politics-driven attacks on state mandates for pre-school vaccination. Long-vanquished child-killing diseases will rise again, just because parents have been fooled into rejecting safe, long-proven vaccines.
The anti-vax movement has never been based on science. Its standard methods are similar to ones used by the charlatans who argued that HIV wasn’t the cause of AIDS, or that putting fluoride in the water is harmful. They claim that any opposition to their propaganda must be proof of “deep state” or “big pharma” corruption of science and public policy.
It’s a tired playbook, but it resonates with people whose psychological states leave them susceptible to believing conspiracy theories. One study found that people who believe “9/11 truther” theories are more likely than average to also believe COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an influential anti-vaxxer, said at a recent rally in Washington: “Bill Gates and his 65,000 satellites alone will be able to look at every square inch of the planet, 24 hours a day.” And “They’re putting in 5G to harvest our data and control our behavior — digital currencies that will allow them to punish us from a distance and cut off our food supply.”
Why would anyone rational take medical advice from him — a lawyer who believes this kind of nonsense? But many do. It doesn’t help when people in positions of power buy in. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) claimed that vaccinated athletes were “dropping dead on the field,” an outright fabrication.
Many anti-vaxxer leaders are glory-seekers and grifters. There’s serious money in play. One prominent anti-vaxxer, Joseph Mercola, has profited by peddling alternative remedies.
White supremacists and people with antisemitic views have found a home in the anti-vaccine movement, sometimes seemingly pitching their agenda to groups they hope to hurt. Somali immigrants have been deliberately targeted by anti-vaxxers, as have Black Americans, Orthodox Jews and other religious minorities. How many of the people who fall for anti-vax lies fully understand the various and often perverse agendas behind them?
The sensible majority of the American people need to fight back before this public health crisis rages further out of control.
Aggressive public service messaging could shock people into understanding not only the risk to adults who avoid COVID vaccination but also the full consequences of leaving children unvaccinated against deadly diseases like polio. Graphic antismoking TV ads can be a model. Deathbed testimonials from regretful victims of anti-vax propaganda send a powerful message. The many COVID-19 deaths of prominent anti-vaxxers should be widely publicized — to scare others from acting foolishly. Seeing death in all its horror can change minds.
And let’s get the courts involved. When words kill, there should be no absolute 1st Amendment protection. Grieving families of dead anti-vaxxers could sue the propagandists they listened to. There’s a model for this as well: Creative lawsuits have forced some white supremacist organizations out of business.
Since the pandemic began, the U.S. has seen public health professionals resign because of threats from anti-vaxxers, hollowing out infrastructure that’s critical to America’s welfare. We need more aggressive prosecutions of anyone threatening officials and scientists who promote vaccination. The public can help. Internet sleuths have identified hundreds of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, feeding information to an FBI task force that makes arrests. Anti-vaxxers who threaten public servants are often anonymous — but may be traceable online.
Here’s another legal avenue: People who make money out of fake vaccination documents are active on social media. Their hubris should land them in prison.
Rather than letting infractions slide, state licensing boards and professional organizations should accelerate sanctions against physicians and pharmacists who distribute and profit from useless and harmful “COVID-19 drugs” such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. It’s particularly egregious when they also refuse to prescribe FDA-approved drugs and trash vaccines that actually are effective against COVID-19. Affected patients and family members could sue the quacks who harmed them. We are now seeing “long COVID” sufferers targeted. Pushing untested cocktails of irrelevant drugs and supplements onto people with serious health problems is downright dangerous.
Taking on COVID-19 anti-vax malfeasance and malpractice is crucial and urgent. Successes on that front can help us counter the older and more pernicious resistance to childhood vaccinations. In the meantime, the flood of disinformation on social media continues to put our children’s futures at serious risk.
A successful scientist-led campaign against anti-vaxxer lies on Spotify has raised awareness of what needs to be done to stop the nonsense. Just as COVID-19 galvanized the anti-vax movement, it can also marshal widespread support to combat the propaganda and protect public health.
John P. Moore is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
John P. Moore
Fri, February 25, 2022
Dozens of anti-vax protesters rally in front of Los Angeles City Hall last September. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Conspiracy theorists' disinformation has led to the deaths of thousands of Americans every week by discouraging COVID-19 vaccinations. That toll will end up being a tiny fraction of the anti-vax movement’s body count.
Even when this pandemic is over, an energized base of anti-vaxxers will lead to more deaths for years to come. The uptake of standard childhood vaccines was already declining before COVID-19 hit, leaving more and more children vulnerable to diseases like diphtheria, measles, rubella, mumps, tetanus and whooping cough. Since the pandemic began, we’re also seeing more politics-driven attacks on state mandates for pre-school vaccination. Long-vanquished child-killing diseases will rise again, just because parents have been fooled into rejecting safe, long-proven vaccines.
The anti-vax movement has never been based on science. Its standard methods are similar to ones used by the charlatans who argued that HIV wasn’t the cause of AIDS, or that putting fluoride in the water is harmful. They claim that any opposition to their propaganda must be proof of “deep state” or “big pharma” corruption of science and public policy.
It’s a tired playbook, but it resonates with people whose psychological states leave them susceptible to believing conspiracy theories. One study found that people who believe “9/11 truther” theories are more likely than average to also believe COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an influential anti-vaxxer, said at a recent rally in Washington: “Bill Gates and his 65,000 satellites alone will be able to look at every square inch of the planet, 24 hours a day.” And “They’re putting in 5G to harvest our data and control our behavior — digital currencies that will allow them to punish us from a distance and cut off our food supply.”
Why would anyone rational take medical advice from him — a lawyer who believes this kind of nonsense? But many do. It doesn’t help when people in positions of power buy in. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) claimed that vaccinated athletes were “dropping dead on the field,” an outright fabrication.
Many anti-vaxxer leaders are glory-seekers and grifters. There’s serious money in play. One prominent anti-vaxxer, Joseph Mercola, has profited by peddling alternative remedies.
White supremacists and people with antisemitic views have found a home in the anti-vaccine movement, sometimes seemingly pitching their agenda to groups they hope to hurt. Somali immigrants have been deliberately targeted by anti-vaxxers, as have Black Americans, Orthodox Jews and other religious minorities. How many of the people who fall for anti-vax lies fully understand the various and often perverse agendas behind them?
The sensible majority of the American people need to fight back before this public health crisis rages further out of control.
Aggressive public service messaging could shock people into understanding not only the risk to adults who avoid COVID vaccination but also the full consequences of leaving children unvaccinated against deadly diseases like polio. Graphic antismoking TV ads can be a model. Deathbed testimonials from regretful victims of anti-vax propaganda send a powerful message. The many COVID-19 deaths of prominent anti-vaxxers should be widely publicized — to scare others from acting foolishly. Seeing death in all its horror can change minds.
And let’s get the courts involved. When words kill, there should be no absolute 1st Amendment protection. Grieving families of dead anti-vaxxers could sue the propagandists they listened to. There’s a model for this as well: Creative lawsuits have forced some white supremacist organizations out of business.
Since the pandemic began, the U.S. has seen public health professionals resign because of threats from anti-vaxxers, hollowing out infrastructure that’s critical to America’s welfare. We need more aggressive prosecutions of anyone threatening officials and scientists who promote vaccination. The public can help. Internet sleuths have identified hundreds of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, feeding information to an FBI task force that makes arrests. Anti-vaxxers who threaten public servants are often anonymous — but may be traceable online.
Here’s another legal avenue: People who make money out of fake vaccination documents are active on social media. Their hubris should land them in prison.
Rather than letting infractions slide, state licensing boards and professional organizations should accelerate sanctions against physicians and pharmacists who distribute and profit from useless and harmful “COVID-19 drugs” such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. It’s particularly egregious when they also refuse to prescribe FDA-approved drugs and trash vaccines that actually are effective against COVID-19. Affected patients and family members could sue the quacks who harmed them. We are now seeing “long COVID” sufferers targeted. Pushing untested cocktails of irrelevant drugs and supplements onto people with serious health problems is downright dangerous.
Taking on COVID-19 anti-vax malfeasance and malpractice is crucial and urgent. Successes on that front can help us counter the older and more pernicious resistance to childhood vaccinations. In the meantime, the flood of disinformation on social media continues to put our children’s futures at serious risk.
A successful scientist-led campaign against anti-vaxxer lies on Spotify has raised awareness of what needs to be done to stop the nonsense. Just as COVID-19 galvanized the anti-vax movement, it can also marshal widespread support to combat the propaganda and protect public health.
John P. Moore is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Moderna co-founder, mRNA developer says he's not completely surprised by vaccine hesitancy
Frank Gluck, Fort Myers News-Press
Fri, February 25, 2022
The co-founder of Moderna and a developer of the foundational technology behind the COVID-19 vaccine says he's not completely surprised people are skeptical about the shots, since revolutionary medical advances have always been controversial.
But Robert Langer, one of the scheduled Imagine Solutions Conference speakers on March 7 in Naples, said the science behind the inoculations could lead to breakthrough treatments in HIV, cancer, heart disease, respiratory afflictions and a host of other ailments in the coming years.
Langer, 73, a billionaire who now sits on the pharmaceutical giant's board of directors and teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, blames widespread misinformation online for some of the vehement opposition to life-saving vaccinations and the mRNA science underlying them.
"I think there's a lot of social media and other things where people say it's not good but, from a clinical standpoint and a scientific standpoint, that doesn't make sense to me," Langer said. "But, if you look at the safety profiles, from everything I've seen in the top medical journals, the safety has been as good or better than any vaccine. But some people are distrustful today of the government and a lot of other things. And I think that's sad."
Florida hiding COVID numbers: Florida hides data showing how many tourists and snowbirds contract COVID-19 in the state
Health care worker vaccinations: Lee Health employee vaccinations for COVID-19 jump to nearly 70%, even as mandate remains on hold
Focusing on changes: What to know about the Imagine Solutions Conference in Naples
Moderna was founded in 2010 to develop vaccines and medical treatments based on mRNA technology. In addition to developing a COVID-19 vaccine, it has a number of clinical trials underway for other drugs and treatments.
Langer did not comment at length on vaccine mandates and opposition to them, saying that's an issue for policymakers.
"I'm not a politician, so I'm not the best person to answer that," he said. "I just feel that it's sad that everybody's not pulling together to knock out COVID."
Related coverage: Lee County COVID-19 vaccine tracker: 65% of people fully vaccinated
More: Lee Health at 108% of bed capacity as COVID-19 cases, staffing shortages linger amid peak tourism season
He noted that Americans were also skeptical of the polio vaccine and even the work of Louis Pasteur, the father of modern germ theory and the resulting revolution in disease-preventing hygiene practices.
More than 204.7 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States as of this month, according to the global research firm, Statista. That makes it the second most used in this country out of the three available vaccines, behind those developed by Pfizer and ahead of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say all the vaccines are safe, despite some reported non-fatal side effects. Medically serious reactions to the shots are rare, the CDC notes.
Traditionally, vaccines have used a weakened or inactivated germ to trick the body to produce an immune response. Unlike those, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines employ lab-created messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) to teach cells how to make proteins that trigger an immune response.
Langer's work on mRNA technology began in the 1970s when he published his first paper demonstrating large molecules like RNA or DNA could be put in and delivered by nanoparticles. Langer, in addition to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine this year for that early work.
"People were skeptical of that. It kind of went against what people thought you could do," Langer said. "They thought these molecules were too big."
That skepticism persisted for years, he said.
"But I thought it worked. And even though a lot of people criticized me — I got all my grants (applications) turned down, nine in a row, and I couldn't get a chemical engineering professor job — I kept at it and tried to understand it."
Today, Langer has 250 major awards in science, including the 2006 U.S. National Medal of Science and the Charles Stark Draper Prize, considered the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for engineering.
Langer also served as a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s SCIENCE Board from 1995 to 2002.
Looking to the future, he said mRNA technology could soon deliver a whole host of groundbreaking treatments, including vaccines for HIV, more effective flu vaccines, personalized treatments for certain cancers, and treatments for respiratory diseases and heart disease.
"I mean, there's very few limits to what I think you'll see the technology used for," he said.
Frank Gluck is a watchdog reporter with The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Connect with him at fgluck@news-press.com or on Twitter: @FrankGluck.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Moderna co-founder Robert Langer not surprised by vaccine doubts
Frank Gluck, Fort Myers News-Press
Fri, February 25, 2022
The co-founder of Moderna and a developer of the foundational technology behind the COVID-19 vaccine says he's not completely surprised people are skeptical about the shots, since revolutionary medical advances have always been controversial.
But Robert Langer, one of the scheduled Imagine Solutions Conference speakers on March 7 in Naples, said the science behind the inoculations could lead to breakthrough treatments in HIV, cancer, heart disease, respiratory afflictions and a host of other ailments in the coming years.
Langer, 73, a billionaire who now sits on the pharmaceutical giant's board of directors and teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, blames widespread misinformation online for some of the vehement opposition to life-saving vaccinations and the mRNA science underlying them.
"I think there's a lot of social media and other things where people say it's not good but, from a clinical standpoint and a scientific standpoint, that doesn't make sense to me," Langer said. "But, if you look at the safety profiles, from everything I've seen in the top medical journals, the safety has been as good or better than any vaccine. But some people are distrustful today of the government and a lot of other things. And I think that's sad."
Florida hiding COVID numbers: Florida hides data showing how many tourists and snowbirds contract COVID-19 in the state
Health care worker vaccinations: Lee Health employee vaccinations for COVID-19 jump to nearly 70%, even as mandate remains on hold
Focusing on changes: What to know about the Imagine Solutions Conference in Naples
Moderna was founded in 2010 to develop vaccines and medical treatments based on mRNA technology. In addition to developing a COVID-19 vaccine, it has a number of clinical trials underway for other drugs and treatments.
Langer did not comment at length on vaccine mandates and opposition to them, saying that's an issue for policymakers.
"I'm not a politician, so I'm not the best person to answer that," he said. "I just feel that it's sad that everybody's not pulling together to knock out COVID."
Related coverage: Lee County COVID-19 vaccine tracker: 65% of people fully vaccinated
More: Lee Health at 108% of bed capacity as COVID-19 cases, staffing shortages linger amid peak tourism season
He noted that Americans were also skeptical of the polio vaccine and even the work of Louis Pasteur, the father of modern germ theory and the resulting revolution in disease-preventing hygiene practices.
More than 204.7 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States as of this month, according to the global research firm, Statista. That makes it the second most used in this country out of the three available vaccines, behind those developed by Pfizer and ahead of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say all the vaccines are safe, despite some reported non-fatal side effects. Medically serious reactions to the shots are rare, the CDC notes.
Traditionally, vaccines have used a weakened or inactivated germ to trick the body to produce an immune response. Unlike those, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines employ lab-created messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) to teach cells how to make proteins that trigger an immune response.
Langer's work on mRNA technology began in the 1970s when he published his first paper demonstrating large molecules like RNA or DNA could be put in and delivered by nanoparticles. Langer, in addition to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine this year for that early work.
"People were skeptical of that. It kind of went against what people thought you could do," Langer said. "They thought these molecules were too big."
That skepticism persisted for years, he said.
"But I thought it worked. And even though a lot of people criticized me — I got all my grants (applications) turned down, nine in a row, and I couldn't get a chemical engineering professor job — I kept at it and tried to understand it."
Today, Langer has 250 major awards in science, including the 2006 U.S. National Medal of Science and the Charles Stark Draper Prize, considered the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for engineering.
Langer also served as a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s SCIENCE Board from 1995 to 2002.
Looking to the future, he said mRNA technology could soon deliver a whole host of groundbreaking treatments, including vaccines for HIV, more effective flu vaccines, personalized treatments for certain cancers, and treatments for respiratory diseases and heart disease.
"I mean, there's very few limits to what I think you'll see the technology used for," he said.
Frank Gluck is a watchdog reporter with The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. Connect with him at fgluck@news-press.com or on Twitter: @FrankGluck.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Moderna co-founder Robert Langer not surprised by vaccine doubts
Tranquil Valley’s Triumph Over Coal Shows Hurdles for Industry
Heesu Lee
Thu, February 24, 2022
(Bloomberg) -- In the Bylong Valley in the verdant hills of southeastern Australia, a community’s victory over a planned coal mine shows the rising opposition that’s stalling new supply of the fuel and pushing prices higher.
For campaigners in this pastoral countryside adjacent to a world heritage site, a decision this month by the High Court of Australia was the culmination of a years-long legal battle against a global corporate giant. For the loser, Korea Electric Power Corp., and for the coal industry as a whole, it was just the latest blow as sentiment hardens against the most-polluting fossil fuel.
The world’s biggest miners have been retreating from coal under mounting pressure from investors and climate activists. While a global power shortage and a slow transition to cleaner energy continues to boost demand for fossil fuels, the Bylong Valley case illustrates the growing difficulties in getting new coal projects approved and running.
“This project would have generated over 200 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Rana Koroglu, a managing lawyer at the Environmental Defenders Office, and who represented the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance. “It would have been an affront to global efforts to limit climate change.”
In 2010, the South Korean utility known as Kepco made a proposal to develop the Bylong Valley to produce up to 6.5 million tons per year of coal for about 25 years, according to the project website. Bylong residents fought against the plan, fearing Kepco’s mine would threaten farming and water security in the pristine valley, which is next to the Greater Blue Mountains, a Unesco world heritage site.
The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission rejected the proposal in 2019, saying it would have unacceptable impacts on issues like groundwater, the climate, agricultural land and the area’s scenic and heritage values. That decision was upheld through various legal challenges, and the High Court sealed the project’s fate this month by dismissing Kepco’s request for an appeal.
Kepco, which invested more than 800 billion won ($669 million) in the Bylong project, is currently reviewing its options, according to a spokesman. One proposal would be to convert the site into a green hydrogen cluster.
The company, which remains one of the largest financiers of oil and gas, retains coal power projects in Vietnam and Indonesia.
Opposition to new mine and power station projects, and tougher access to finance, means the global pipeline of new coal-fired plants has declined almost 70% since 2015, according to a report from climate think tank E3G. Investors including BlackRock Inc. have also been limiting exposure to both coal pits and power stations.
Rio Tinto Group became the first major mining company to move away from coal in 2018, while BHP Group has sold assets and is considering an exit from thermal coal used in power stations. Even Glencore Plc, a major coal champion, previously agreed to cap its production.
“Big institutional investors recognize that the writing is on the wall for coal and are shifting their capital elsewhere,” said Leo Roberts, a research manager at E3G’s fossil fuel transitions team.
Governments, including South Korea, have been pushing to halt financing of overseas coal power projects. However, China and India dealt a blow to efforts to limit use of the fuel by watering down an agreement at the COP26 climate summit that originally called for a “phase-out” of unabated coal power.
Coal continues to dominate the global power mix and demand is rising this year in key markets, including in gas-starved Europe. Combined with the lack of new mines, that’s pushing prices higher. High-quality thermal coal at Newcastle port in Australia, the benchmark in Asia, set new records in January and again this month, according to Australian producer Whitehaven Coal Ltd.
The surge in prices has stoked concerns from some campaigners that private firms and smaller players could seek to develop new assets, or extend the lives of aging mines. Still, falling costs of renewables make that less likely, said Oh Dongjae, a researcher at Seoul-based Solutions for Our Climate.
“Theoretically, higher fossil fuel prices should restrain demand in the coming years, prompting countries to accelerate their transition to cleaner sources,” he said by phone.
(Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, has funded campaigns for the closure of coal-fired power globally.)
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Heesu Lee
Thu, February 24, 2022
(Bloomberg) -- In the Bylong Valley in the verdant hills of southeastern Australia, a community’s victory over a planned coal mine shows the rising opposition that’s stalling new supply of the fuel and pushing prices higher.
For campaigners in this pastoral countryside adjacent to a world heritage site, a decision this month by the High Court of Australia was the culmination of a years-long legal battle against a global corporate giant. For the loser, Korea Electric Power Corp., and for the coal industry as a whole, it was just the latest blow as sentiment hardens against the most-polluting fossil fuel.
The world’s biggest miners have been retreating from coal under mounting pressure from investors and climate activists. While a global power shortage and a slow transition to cleaner energy continues to boost demand for fossil fuels, the Bylong Valley case illustrates the growing difficulties in getting new coal projects approved and running.
“This project would have generated over 200 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Rana Koroglu, a managing lawyer at the Environmental Defenders Office, and who represented the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance. “It would have been an affront to global efforts to limit climate change.”
In 2010, the South Korean utility known as Kepco made a proposal to develop the Bylong Valley to produce up to 6.5 million tons per year of coal for about 25 years, according to the project website. Bylong residents fought against the plan, fearing Kepco’s mine would threaten farming and water security in the pristine valley, which is next to the Greater Blue Mountains, a Unesco world heritage site.
The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission rejected the proposal in 2019, saying it would have unacceptable impacts on issues like groundwater, the climate, agricultural land and the area’s scenic and heritage values. That decision was upheld through various legal challenges, and the High Court sealed the project’s fate this month by dismissing Kepco’s request for an appeal.
Kepco, which invested more than 800 billion won ($669 million) in the Bylong project, is currently reviewing its options, according to a spokesman. One proposal would be to convert the site into a green hydrogen cluster.
The company, which remains one of the largest financiers of oil and gas, retains coal power projects in Vietnam and Indonesia.
Opposition to new mine and power station projects, and tougher access to finance, means the global pipeline of new coal-fired plants has declined almost 70% since 2015, according to a report from climate think tank E3G. Investors including BlackRock Inc. have also been limiting exposure to both coal pits and power stations.
Rio Tinto Group became the first major mining company to move away from coal in 2018, while BHP Group has sold assets and is considering an exit from thermal coal used in power stations. Even Glencore Plc, a major coal champion, previously agreed to cap its production.
“Big institutional investors recognize that the writing is on the wall for coal and are shifting their capital elsewhere,” said Leo Roberts, a research manager at E3G’s fossil fuel transitions team.
Governments, including South Korea, have been pushing to halt financing of overseas coal power projects. However, China and India dealt a blow to efforts to limit use of the fuel by watering down an agreement at the COP26 climate summit that originally called for a “phase-out” of unabated coal power.
Coal continues to dominate the global power mix and demand is rising this year in key markets, including in gas-starved Europe. Combined with the lack of new mines, that’s pushing prices higher. High-quality thermal coal at Newcastle port in Australia, the benchmark in Asia, set new records in January and again this month, according to Australian producer Whitehaven Coal Ltd.
The surge in prices has stoked concerns from some campaigners that private firms and smaller players could seek to develop new assets, or extend the lives of aging mines. Still, falling costs of renewables make that less likely, said Oh Dongjae, a researcher at Seoul-based Solutions for Our Climate.
“Theoretically, higher fossil fuel prices should restrain demand in the coming years, prompting countries to accelerate their transition to cleaner sources,” he said by phone.
(Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, has funded campaigns for the closure of coal-fired power globally.)
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Coal Miners Fear For Their Jobs As World Shifts To Renewables
Editor OilPrice.com
Thu, February 24, 2022
Thousands of workers in fossil fuel-related jobs are worried about their future employment as governments start the transition to renewable energy. This is particularly true for those working in the coal industry, as several countries aim to shut down their existing coal plants over the next decade, potentially leaving hundreds of thousands unemployed.
The latest in a long line of worldwide coal plant closures came this week as Australia announced it has plans to shut down its biggest coal factory in 2025, seven years ahead of schedule. Eraring station in New South Wales, operated by Origin Energy, said it plans to turn the power off on the 2,880MW black coal generator due to changing conditions.
CEO of Origin Energy, Frank Calabria, explained of the decision, “The reality is the economics of coal-fired power stations are being put under increasing, unsustainable pressure by cleaner and lower-cost generation, including solar, wind and batteries.”
Several other energy companies in Australia have stated plans to close their coal operations early over the last year. AGL is planning to close its Bayswater generator in 2033 rather than 2035, and its brown coal-fired Loy Yang A plant in 2045 as opposed to 2048. EnergyAustralia has also brought forward its Yallourn power plant closure from 2032 to 2028.
This has led many Australian coal workers to fear for their employment prospects heading forward. There are around 400 workers at the Eraring plant that will lose their jobs and more in the supply chain that will be affected. While the green transition and the move away from coal has been a long time coming, calls from coal-reliant towns have gone unanswered by the government. Despite the news of the early closure, the workers were told nothing about their severance package or the transition plan at the time of the announcement, leaving many worried about the future.
The Independent party politician for the region, Greg Piper, explains, “I have always supported a move away from coal but the fact is, the workers and this power station have been the heavy lifters in giving energy security to NSW.”
This is a sentiment felt by many as the world transitions away from fossil fuels. While it may be important to consider the environmental impact of our energy, the prospects of the workers that have been helping to supply energy for decades should not be overlooked. The Centre for Policy Development released a report in January suggesting that achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 could lead to the cutting of 300,000 jobs in Australia alone.
To avoid catastrophe, governments around the world must consider the future of fossil fuel workers in their energy transition strategies. Not only will this help prevent soaring unemployment, but it could also help support the renewable energy industry through the retraining of workers to transition to green energy jobs.
Matt Kean, New South Wales’ treasurer, has suggested just this. He announced last week, the creation of 3,700 roles in clean industries in response to the plant closure. In addition, the state plans to invest $250 million in the next half a decade to increase local manufacturing for components to be used in renewable energy projects, from wind towers to electrolyzers and batteries, creating a further 500 jobs.
Other countries are experiencing similar challenges as they strive for a green transition. In India, new coal mines continue to be being built in response to the country’s growing population and increasing energy demand. Several companies are asking people across India to give up their land in return for a job in a new plant. But whereas these jobs used to be permanent many are now temporary, as the number of jobs in the new plants outweighs the number of people losing land. Formal employment in the mining industry has become scarcer, with many across the country left without an income as they lose their land and have no long-term job to fall back on.
Many of the coal job cuts worldwide were spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic which saw a high number of job losses across the fossil fuel industry as operations shut down. The U.S. fossil fuel industry is thought to have reduced its workforce by between 10 and 24 percent during 2020. At the same time, renewable energy projects picked up the pace, with wind, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and battery storage operations profiting from the closure of coal and oil projects. As operations resumed the outlook appeared different, with governments, international organizations and environmental activists around the world pushing for a transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable alternatives, meaning an increasing number of job cuts across the industry.
In April last year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $109.5 million in funding for projects that support job creation for communities affected by the energy transition, but this is a drop in the ocean considering the number of jobs being lost every month. As job losses become more commonplace worldwide across the energy sector, governments desperately need to consider how the energy transition will affect the workers.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
Editor OilPrice.com
Thu, February 24, 2022
Thousands of workers in fossil fuel-related jobs are worried about their future employment as governments start the transition to renewable energy. This is particularly true for those working in the coal industry, as several countries aim to shut down their existing coal plants over the next decade, potentially leaving hundreds of thousands unemployed.
The latest in a long line of worldwide coal plant closures came this week as Australia announced it has plans to shut down its biggest coal factory in 2025, seven years ahead of schedule. Eraring station in New South Wales, operated by Origin Energy, said it plans to turn the power off on the 2,880MW black coal generator due to changing conditions.
CEO of Origin Energy, Frank Calabria, explained of the decision, “The reality is the economics of coal-fired power stations are being put under increasing, unsustainable pressure by cleaner and lower-cost generation, including solar, wind and batteries.”
Several other energy companies in Australia have stated plans to close their coal operations early over the last year. AGL is planning to close its Bayswater generator in 2033 rather than 2035, and its brown coal-fired Loy Yang A plant in 2045 as opposed to 2048. EnergyAustralia has also brought forward its Yallourn power plant closure from 2032 to 2028.
This has led many Australian coal workers to fear for their employment prospects heading forward. There are around 400 workers at the Eraring plant that will lose their jobs and more in the supply chain that will be affected. While the green transition and the move away from coal has been a long time coming, calls from coal-reliant towns have gone unanswered by the government. Despite the news of the early closure, the workers were told nothing about their severance package or the transition plan at the time of the announcement, leaving many worried about the future.
The Independent party politician for the region, Greg Piper, explains, “I have always supported a move away from coal but the fact is, the workers and this power station have been the heavy lifters in giving energy security to NSW.”
This is a sentiment felt by many as the world transitions away from fossil fuels. While it may be important to consider the environmental impact of our energy, the prospects of the workers that have been helping to supply energy for decades should not be overlooked. The Centre for Policy Development released a report in January suggesting that achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 could lead to the cutting of 300,000 jobs in Australia alone.
To avoid catastrophe, governments around the world must consider the future of fossil fuel workers in their energy transition strategies. Not only will this help prevent soaring unemployment, but it could also help support the renewable energy industry through the retraining of workers to transition to green energy jobs.
Matt Kean, New South Wales’ treasurer, has suggested just this. He announced last week, the creation of 3,700 roles in clean industries in response to the plant closure. In addition, the state plans to invest $250 million in the next half a decade to increase local manufacturing for components to be used in renewable energy projects, from wind towers to electrolyzers and batteries, creating a further 500 jobs.
Other countries are experiencing similar challenges as they strive for a green transition. In India, new coal mines continue to be being built in response to the country’s growing population and increasing energy demand. Several companies are asking people across India to give up their land in return for a job in a new plant. But whereas these jobs used to be permanent many are now temporary, as the number of jobs in the new plants outweighs the number of people losing land. Formal employment in the mining industry has become scarcer, with many across the country left without an income as they lose their land and have no long-term job to fall back on.
Many of the coal job cuts worldwide were spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic which saw a high number of job losses across the fossil fuel industry as operations shut down. The U.S. fossil fuel industry is thought to have reduced its workforce by between 10 and 24 percent during 2020. At the same time, renewable energy projects picked up the pace, with wind, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and battery storage operations profiting from the closure of coal and oil projects. As operations resumed the outlook appeared different, with governments, international organizations and environmental activists around the world pushing for a transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable alternatives, meaning an increasing number of job cuts across the industry.
In April last year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $109.5 million in funding for projects that support job creation for communities affected by the energy transition, but this is a drop in the ocean considering the number of jobs being lost every month. As job losses become more commonplace worldwide across the energy sector, governments desperately need to consider how the energy transition will affect the workers.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
Iranian activist disappears after criticizing internet bill
Sat, February 26, 2022
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian activist went missing after criticizing a proposed bill by hard-liners to implement highly restrictive internet policies, his family said Saturday.
Hossein Ronaghi, a blogger and free-speech activist, disappeared Wednesday after he criticized a bill in parliament to limit internet access in the country, known as the “Users Protection Bill.” The proposal has been criticized by many Iranians on social media.
There was no information on Ronaghi’s location or condition.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, said in March last year that social media in Iran is “unbridled” and it should not be “surrendered to the enemy.”
In a recent tweet, Ronaghi said: “The Protection Plan was a decision made by the entire system based on the demand from the Islamic Republic’s leader who had stated: ‘Virtual space must be controlled.'"
Ronaghi's brother, Hassan, who also is an activist, said in a tweet that Hossein was kidnapped. He said his brother had received several anonymous phone calls in the days leading up to his disappearance.
Hassan Ronaghi also said his brother needs medical care because he is suffering diseases affecting several of his organs, including his kidneys.
“Anything that happens to Hossein is the responsibility of the Supreme Leaders’ office, the (Revolutionary Guard), and the judiciary.”
Reza Ronaghi, the father of the two brothers, said in an interview with Iranian foreign-base media on Wednesday that Khamenei was directly responsible for his son’s life.
A day after the first reports surfaced of his disappearance, human rights activists claimed that security forces came into Hossein Ronaghi's home and and took a laptop and notebooks.
The language in the proposed internet legislation has yet to be finalized. But if implemented in its current form, it could lead to the disruption of international internet services and websites — like Instagram — that have not yet been blocked.
Under pressure from hard-liners, the Iranian government has long blocked access to many websites and social media platforms, from YouTube and Facebook to Twitter and Telegram.
Many Iranians, especially youths, access social media through VPNs and proxies. Instagram and WhatsApp remain unblocked.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, this is not the first time Ronaghi has been arrested. In December 2009, during the mass arrests that followed post-election protests over voter fraud allegations in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he was arrested after discussing politics in a series of critical blogs that were eventually blocked by the government.
Sat, February 26, 2022
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian activist went missing after criticizing a proposed bill by hard-liners to implement highly restrictive internet policies, his family said Saturday.
Hossein Ronaghi, a blogger and free-speech activist, disappeared Wednesday after he criticized a bill in parliament to limit internet access in the country, known as the “Users Protection Bill.” The proposal has been criticized by many Iranians on social media.
There was no information on Ronaghi’s location or condition.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, said in March last year that social media in Iran is “unbridled” and it should not be “surrendered to the enemy.”
In a recent tweet, Ronaghi said: “The Protection Plan was a decision made by the entire system based on the demand from the Islamic Republic’s leader who had stated: ‘Virtual space must be controlled.'"
Ronaghi's brother, Hassan, who also is an activist, said in a tweet that Hossein was kidnapped. He said his brother had received several anonymous phone calls in the days leading up to his disappearance.
Hassan Ronaghi also said his brother needs medical care because he is suffering diseases affecting several of his organs, including his kidneys.
“Anything that happens to Hossein is the responsibility of the Supreme Leaders’ office, the (Revolutionary Guard), and the judiciary.”
Reza Ronaghi, the father of the two brothers, said in an interview with Iranian foreign-base media on Wednesday that Khamenei was directly responsible for his son’s life.
A day after the first reports surfaced of his disappearance, human rights activists claimed that security forces came into Hossein Ronaghi's home and and took a laptop and notebooks.
The language in the proposed internet legislation has yet to be finalized. But if implemented in its current form, it could lead to the disruption of international internet services and websites — like Instagram — that have not yet been blocked.
Under pressure from hard-liners, the Iranian government has long blocked access to many websites and social media platforms, from YouTube and Facebook to Twitter and Telegram.
Many Iranians, especially youths, access social media through VPNs and proxies. Instagram and WhatsApp remain unblocked.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, this is not the first time Ronaghi has been arrested. In December 2009, during the mass arrests that followed post-election protests over voter fraud allegations in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he was arrested after discussing politics in a series of critical blogs that were eventually blocked by the government.
CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITAL$M
BitConnect Founder Satish Kumbhani Indicted for Ponzi Scheme
Bob Mason
Fri, February 25, 2022
Key Insights:
BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani indicted for Ponzi Scheme
In 2021, BitConnect and Kumbhani were sued by the SEC.
Penalties for illegal activity are hefty, with some jurisdictions calling for life sentences.
BitConnect was a proof-of-stake (PoS) platform allowing users to buy Bitconnect Coin (BCC) to earn interest. Users could sell Bitcoin (BTC) for BCC and then lock in the BCC price and earn daily interest over defined lock-in periods.
In September 2021, the SEC filed an action against BitConnect, founder Kumbhani, its top promoter, and his affiliated company. The action alleged that they defrauded retail investors out of $2bn through the fraudulent and unregistered offering of investments.
From early January 2017 through January 2018, the SEC claimed that the defendants siphoned money by transferring funds to digital wallet addresses. The wallets were in the control of Bitconnect, its founder, and top U.S promoter, Glenn Arcaro among others.
Grand Jury Indicts BitConnect Founder
On Friday, the United States Justice Department (DoJ) announced the indictment of BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani. A federal grand jury indicted Kumbhani with “orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme.”
As per the press release, Kumbhani “misled investors about BitConnect’s Lending Program.” The press release goes on to say: “BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scheme by paying earlier BitConnect investors with money from later investors. In total, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators obtained approximately $2.4bn from investors.”
The SEC charges the defendants with violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
U.S promotor Arcaro had pleaded guilty to the criminal charges back in September of last year.
Hefty Fines and Lengthy Jail Terms Are on Offer for Crypto Lawbreakers
The SEC and the DoJ have been particularly active in the crypto space.
Earlier this week, BitMEX co-founders Delo and Hayes pleaded guilty to violating the U.S Bank Secrecy Act. Under the terms of their plea agreements, “Hayes and Delo each agreed to pay a $10 million criminal fine representing pecuniary gain derived from the offense.”
In 2021, BitMEX paid a $100m penalty for violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) by offering the trading or processing swaps without approval as a Designated Contract Market (DCM) or a Swap Execution Facility (SEF).
BlockFi also paid a $100m penalty in an SEC settlement this month.
While the sums are sizeable, regulators in South Korea have taken a sterner approach against fraudsters and scammers. In January, news hit the wires of South Korean prosecutors wanting to put crypto criminals away for life. Executives of crypto platform V Global reportedly received hefty jail terms for a $1.7bn fraud. The CEO received a 22-year jail term.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
BitConnect Founder Satish Kumbhani Indicted for Ponzi Scheme
Bob Mason
Fri, February 25, 2022
Key Insights:
BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani indicted for Ponzi Scheme
In 2021, BitConnect and Kumbhani were sued by the SEC.
Penalties for illegal activity are hefty, with some jurisdictions calling for life sentences.
BitConnect was a proof-of-stake (PoS) platform allowing users to buy Bitconnect Coin (BCC) to earn interest. Users could sell Bitcoin (BTC) for BCC and then lock in the BCC price and earn daily interest over defined lock-in periods.
In September 2021, the SEC filed an action against BitConnect, founder Kumbhani, its top promoter, and his affiliated company. The action alleged that they defrauded retail investors out of $2bn through the fraudulent and unregistered offering of investments.
From early January 2017 through January 2018, the SEC claimed that the defendants siphoned money by transferring funds to digital wallet addresses. The wallets were in the control of Bitconnect, its founder, and top U.S promoter, Glenn Arcaro among others.
Grand Jury Indicts BitConnect Founder
On Friday, the United States Justice Department (DoJ) announced the indictment of BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani. A federal grand jury indicted Kumbhani with “orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme.”
As per the press release, Kumbhani “misled investors about BitConnect’s Lending Program.” The press release goes on to say: “BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scheme by paying earlier BitConnect investors with money from later investors. In total, Kumbhani and his co-conspirators obtained approximately $2.4bn from investors.”
The SEC charges the defendants with violating the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
U.S promotor Arcaro had pleaded guilty to the criminal charges back in September of last year.
Hefty Fines and Lengthy Jail Terms Are on Offer for Crypto Lawbreakers
The SEC and the DoJ have been particularly active in the crypto space.
Earlier this week, BitMEX co-founders Delo and Hayes pleaded guilty to violating the U.S Bank Secrecy Act. Under the terms of their plea agreements, “Hayes and Delo each agreed to pay a $10 million criminal fine representing pecuniary gain derived from the offense.”
In 2021, BitMEX paid a $100m penalty for violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) by offering the trading or processing swaps without approval as a Designated Contract Market (DCM) or a Swap Execution Facility (SEF).
BlockFi also paid a $100m penalty in an SEC settlement this month.
While the sums are sizeable, regulators in South Korea have taken a sterner approach against fraudsters and scammers. In January, news hit the wires of South Korean prosecutors wanting to put crypto criminals away for life. Executives of crypto platform V Global reportedly received hefty jail terms for a $1.7bn fraud. The CEO received a 22-year jail term.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
BitConnect’s Kumbhani Charged by U.S. in $2.4 Billion Ponzi Scam
David Voreacos
Fri, February 25, 2022,
(Bloomberg) -- BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani was indicted by a U.S. grand jury on charges he orchestrated a global Ponzi scheme that raised $2.4 billion from investors in a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform, according to a Justice Department statement.
Kumbhani, 36, was charged in San Diego with misleading investors about BitConnect’s purported propriety technology, which falsely promised returns based on phony “volatility software” that tracked cryptocurrency exchange markets, prosecutors said Friday. BitConnect used money from new investors to pay earlier ones and also operated as an unlicensed money transmitting business, the U.S. said.
BitConnect closed its exchange in January 2018 after getting cease-and-desist letters from state regulators in Texas and North Carolina. On Sept. 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Kumbhani for raising more than $2 billion in an unregistered offering. That day, BitConnect’s top promoter in North America, Glenn Arcaro, pleaded guilty.
“As cryptocurrency gains popularity and attracts investors worldwide, alleged fraudsters like Kumbhani are utilizing increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors,” said Ryan Korner, special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s office in Los Angeles.
Kumbhani, of Hemal, India, couldn’t immediately be located for comment. His is charged with wire fraud, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and three conspiracies: to commit wire fraud; commodity price manipulation; and international money laundering.
“The commodities price manipulation conspiracy is believed to be the first time any cryptocurrency has been alleged to function as a commodity,” according to a statement by prosecutors in the Southern District of California.
If convicted of all counts, Kumbhani could get 70 years in prison but would likely get far less time.
In November, prosecutors said they would sell about $57 million in cryptocurrency seized from Arcaro. This month, a judge approved an amended order for the sale.
David Voreacos
Fri, February 25, 2022,
(Bloomberg) -- BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani was indicted by a U.S. grand jury on charges he orchestrated a global Ponzi scheme that raised $2.4 billion from investors in a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform, according to a Justice Department statement.
Kumbhani, 36, was charged in San Diego with misleading investors about BitConnect’s purported propriety technology, which falsely promised returns based on phony “volatility software” that tracked cryptocurrency exchange markets, prosecutors said Friday. BitConnect used money from new investors to pay earlier ones and also operated as an unlicensed money transmitting business, the U.S. said.
BitConnect closed its exchange in January 2018 after getting cease-and-desist letters from state regulators in Texas and North Carolina. On Sept. 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Kumbhani for raising more than $2 billion in an unregistered offering. That day, BitConnect’s top promoter in North America, Glenn Arcaro, pleaded guilty.
“As cryptocurrency gains popularity and attracts investors worldwide, alleged fraudsters like Kumbhani are utilizing increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors,” said Ryan Korner, special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s office in Los Angeles.
Kumbhani, of Hemal, India, couldn’t immediately be located for comment. His is charged with wire fraud, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and three conspiracies: to commit wire fraud; commodity price manipulation; and international money laundering.
“The commodities price manipulation conspiracy is believed to be the first time any cryptocurrency has been alleged to function as a commodity,” according to a statement by prosecutors in the Southern District of California.
If convicted of all counts, Kumbhani could get 70 years in prison but would likely get far less time.
In November, prosecutors said they would sell about $57 million in cryptocurrency seized from Arcaro. This month, a judge approved an amended order for the sale.
US Justice Department Indicts BitConnect Founder
Nikhilesh De
Fri, February 25, 2022,
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that a federal grand jury charged BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani with defrauding investors of some $2.4 billion through its lending scheme.
Kumbhani was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit price manipulation, operating an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to launder funds internationally for "orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme" according to a DOJ press release, which alleged he traded cryptocurrencies using his investors' funds, and repaid earlier investors with the funds he received from later investors.
Kumbhani was already sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late 2021 on similar charges, alongside BitConnect promoter Glenn Arcaro. Arcaro pleaded guilty to a similar BitConnect-related charge filed by the DOJ last September.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. said cryptocurrencies are continuing to be used in international crimes in a statement.
“The department is committed to protecting victims, preserving market integrity, and strengthening its global partnerships to hold accountable criminals engaging in cryptocurrency fraud. We thank our partners around the world for their continued efforts," he said.
In a statement, IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner said malicious actors were increasingly using crypto.
“As cryptocurrency gains popularity and attracts investors worldwide, alleged fraudsters like Kumbhani are utilizing increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors, oftentimes stealing millions of dollars,” he said. “However, make no mistake, our agency will continue our long tradition of following the money, whether physical or digital, to expose criminal schemes and hold the fraudsters accountable for their illegal acts of trickery and deceit.”
BitConnect collapsed in dramatic fashion in 2018, shuttering its exchange and lending platforms within a week after receiving cease-and-desist orders from U.S. state regulators. The company attempted to continue raising proceeds through an initial coin offering (ICO).
Regulators in the U.S. and other nations have arrested or sought information from a number of BitConnect promoters in the four years since its collapse.
Nikhilesh De
Fri, February 25, 2022,
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that a federal grand jury charged BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani with defrauding investors of some $2.4 billion through its lending scheme.
Kumbhani was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit price manipulation, operating an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to launder funds internationally for "orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme" according to a DOJ press release, which alleged he traded cryptocurrencies using his investors' funds, and repaid earlier investors with the funds he received from later investors.
Kumbhani was already sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late 2021 on similar charges, alongside BitConnect promoter Glenn Arcaro. Arcaro pleaded guilty to a similar BitConnect-related charge filed by the DOJ last September.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. said cryptocurrencies are continuing to be used in international crimes in a statement.
“The department is committed to protecting victims, preserving market integrity, and strengthening its global partnerships to hold accountable criminals engaging in cryptocurrency fraud. We thank our partners around the world for their continued efforts," he said.
In a statement, IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner said malicious actors were increasingly using crypto.
“As cryptocurrency gains popularity and attracts investors worldwide, alleged fraudsters like Kumbhani are utilizing increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors, oftentimes stealing millions of dollars,” he said. “However, make no mistake, our agency will continue our long tradition of following the money, whether physical or digital, to expose criminal schemes and hold the fraudsters accountable for their illegal acts of trickery and deceit.”
BitConnect collapsed in dramatic fashion in 2018, shuttering its exchange and lending platforms within a week after receiving cease-and-desist orders from U.S. state regulators. The company attempted to continue raising proceeds through an initial coin offering (ICO).
Regulators in the U.S. and other nations have arrested or sought information from a number of BitConnect promoters in the four years since its collapse.
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