US Business

US officials announced fraud charges Monday against three men who orchestrated a $100 million scheme to inflate the market value of a company whose only revenue source was a small-town New Jersey delicatessen.

It is the latest twist in the odd saga of a Paulsboro, New Jersey deli owned by Hometown International, which saw its stock valuation soar in 2021 despite annual deli revenues of less than $40,000.

Now the company is the target of a criminal indictment by the Justice Department and civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the inflated $100 million market value.

The Justice Department charged James Patten and the father-son duo of Peter Coker Sr and Peter Coker Jr with a conspiracy in which they took control of two companies and their stock trading to artificially pump up equity valuations.

Hometown began selling shares on the OTC Marketplace in 2019 after which the three men took over the company, along with a second entity that traded on the OTC, E-Waste Corporation.

The trio shifted shares to shell companies to mask control, while transferring other shares to family members and friends whose log-in details they had obtained.

Having parties set up on both sides of the transaction, the men then used the accounts to perform a series of “match and wash trades” to pump up the value of Hometown by 939 percent and E-Waste by 19,900 percent, the Justice Department said.

“These tactics artificially inflated the price of Hometown International and E-Waste’s stock by giving the false impression that there was a genuine market interest in the stock,” said a DOJ press release.

Patten and Coker Sr were arrested Monday and scheduled to appear in federal court in North Carolina, while Coker Jr, who is based in Hong Kong, remains at large, DOJ said.

Airlines would be required to disclose fees for luggage or for passengers to sit next to their children prior to ticket purchase under a regulation proposed Monday by the Biden administration.

The action, proposed by the US Department of Transportation (DOT), responds to consumer complaints about hidden fees for services no longer typically included in the base fare.

Besides surcharges for checked or carry-on baggage and fees to sit with a child, airlines would also be required to disclose up front fees for changing or canceling a flight,  according to a DOT press release. 

The proposed rule, which will be open up to a 60-day public comment period, would also apply to third-party sellers of airline tickets, or online websites that list fares, DOT said.

“Airline passengers deserve to know the full, true cost of their flights before they buy a ticket,” said US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 

“This new proposed rule would require airlines to be transparent with customers about the fees they charge, which will help travelers make informed decisions and save money.”

Airlines for America (A4A) said the industry already provides customers with clear information on ticket pricing, including taxes and government fees, which account for more than 20 percent of many ticket prices for domestic flights, said a spokesperson for the group, which represents large US carriers.

“A4A member passenger airlines — which are fierce competitors — already offer transparency to consumers from first search to touchdown,” the group said.

“A4A members offer a range of options — including fully refundable fares — to increase accessibility to air travel and to help customers make ticket selections that best fit their needs,” the group added.

“In addition to the total cost, the terms of ticket selection for these options are stated at the time of purchase.”

Cuba on Monday declared a cyclone alert in its six most western provinces as fast-approaching Hurricane Ian strengthened rapidly, with Florida also ramping up preparations ahead of a possible hit.

Authorities in Havana said they were ready to evacuate those from the most affected areas while supplying fresh drinking water and medical services.

“Given the continuing deterioration of the weather conditions… it was decided to establish from 0800 (1200 GMT) the Cyclone Alert Phase,” said the Civil Defense Staff on state media.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned Ian was expected to pass near the Cayman Islands and then over western Cuba late Monday and early Tuesday.

“Rapid strengthening is expected during the next day or so, and Ian is forecast to become a major hurricane,” it added, with current maximum sustained winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour.

Cuba’s Insmet meteorology institute said Ian was advancing at a speed of 22 kilometers per hour.

The six provinces put on alert are Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Cienfuegos and Isla de la Juventud.

– ‘Huge storm surge’ expected –

In Florida, Tampa city was under a hurricane watch , and state Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in all 67 counties as officials scrambled to prepare for the storm’s forecast landing on late Wednesday or Thursday.

Ian “will bring heavy rains, strong winds, flash flooding, storm surge, along with isolated tornado activity along Florida’s Gulf Coast,” DeSantis said in a press conference in Tallahassee on Monday.

He warned people to prepare for power cuts.

“Even if the eye of the storm doesn’t hit your region, you’re going to have really significant winds, it’s going to knock over trees, it’s going to cause interruptions,” DeSantis said, warning of likely flooding.

The governor urged residents to stock up on food, water, medicine and fuel, and he activated 7,000 National Guard members to help with the effort.

Authorities in several Florida municipalities, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, started distributing free sandbags to residents to help protect their homes from the risk of flooding.

President Joe Biden approved emergency aid to 24 counties in Florida through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

NASA said it was rolling back its Artemis 1 rocket due to blast off to the Moon into its storage hangar at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida due to the hurricane.

– Fiona’s wake –

The Caribbean and parts of eastern Canada are still counting the cost of powerful storm Fiona, which tore through last week, claiming several lives.

When it arrived in eastern Canada, the storm packed intense winds of 80 miles per hour, bringing torrential rain and waves of up to 40 feet (12 meters).

Canadian authorities have confirmed two deaths caused when Fiona barreled into Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as a post-tropical cyclone early Saturday.

Prince Edward Island authorities confirmed the death of one person while officials in Newfoundland said they found the body of a 73-year-old woman believed to have been swept from her home. She was apparently sheltering in her basement when waves broke through.

“The devastation is immense,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told reporters. “The magnitude of the storm is incredible.”

Storm surges swept at least 20 homes into the sea in the town of Channel-Port aux Basques, on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland.

Around 200 residents had been evacuated before the storm hit.

“Some people have lost everything, and I mean everything,” Button told CBC News.

Ankara on Monday summoned the Greek ambassador and protested to Washington after accusing Greece of deploying US armoured vehicles on two Aegean islands near the Turkish coast.

Greece branded the move as “completely unfounded and incompatible with international law”, and accused Ankara of aggressive behaviour.

Greece and Turkey, which are both part of the US-led NATO defence alliance, have feuded for years over maritime borders and energy exploration rights in the Aegean and east Mediterranean seas.

The latest escalation started when Turkish security sources shared aerial images over the weekend purportedly showing ships loaded with US armoured vehicles docking at two Greek islands, Lesbos and Samos. 

The Turkish foreign ministry told the Greek envoy that Athens should “stop violations” and respect the non-military status the islands were assigned by international law, the Anadolu state news agency reported.

In a note to the US embassy in Ankara, Turkey told Washington that its “weapons should not be used in breach” of the islands’ agreed status, Anadolu said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan separately accused Greece of staging “provocations” and playing “perilous games”.

A Greek diplomatic source said Athens rejected Ankara’s objections as “completely unfounded and incompatible with international law”.

The source added that the Greek ambassador had written two letters to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to set out his country’s stance in detail.

Erdogan has repeatedly accused Greece of “occupying” the Aegean islands, whose status was settled in treaties adopted after World War I.

In response, Athens accuses Turkey of conducting hundreds of illegal military sorties over the islands.

The Greek diplomatic source said Turkey had threatened its neighbour with war, accusing it of assembling a huge naval presence and violating Greece’s sovereignty and airspace. 

Greece filed a formal complaint with the European Union, NATO and the United Nations after Erdogan hinted at a possible military operation in the Aegean earlier this month.

Erdogan continued his war of words on Monday, saying Greece was not Turkey’s equal and rejecting diplomatic talks.

He also vowed to defend Turkey’s interests with “any means at its disposal” in the islands row.

Pfizer and BioNTech have asked United States health officials to authorize their Omicron-targeting Covid booster vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, the companies said Monday.

The companies sent a request for emergency authorization for a 10-microgram dose to the US Food and Drug Administration.

This new generation of anti-Covid vaccines targets both the original strain of coronavirus and the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages, the subvariants of Omicron that are causing more than 90% of infections in the United States. 

If the FDA authorizes the vaccine, the shot will still need another green light from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country’s main federal health agency, before the first injections can be administered to children.

In the coming days, Pfizer and BioNTech will also file for authorization with the European Medicines Agency, they said.

Even though children have been less affected by Covid-19 than adults, several hundred children aged 5 to 18 have died in the United States since the start of the pandemic, according to CDC figures.

In September, the CDC cleared Omicron-specific versions of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for people over the age of 12 and of the Moderna vaccine for those over 18, paving the way for a booster campaign.

NASA’s Artemis 1 rocket — waiting to blast off on a delayed mission to the Moon — will be rolled back into its storage hangar Monday night, the space agency said, as Florida braces for Hurricane Ian.

The move, to protect the rocket from strong winds and heavy rain forecast for the Kennedy Space Center, will cause further setbacks for the uncrewed Moon mission, which was scheduled to launch last month and has already been pushed back three times.

“After reviewing the forecast for Ian, we will roll our Artemis I vehicle back to the Vehicle Assembly Building tonight,” NASA official Jim Free tweeted. “It was the right and necessary decision to keep our people and hardware safe.”

The decision was “based on the latest weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian, after additional data gathered overnight did not show improving expected conditions,” the space agency said in a blog.

The operation to move the 98-meter (320-foot) rocket, which is sitting on its launch pad, is set to begin around 11:00 pm (0300 GMT) Monday night, NASA said.

It will be ferried along on a rolling platform moving slowly to avoid damaging the rocket with vibrations. 

Hurricane Ian, which was situated as a Category 1 hurricane southwest of Cuba on Monday, is expected to strengthen as it heads toward Florida through the Gulf of Mexico. 

NASA had waited until the last minute to decide whether to shelter Artemis I in the hope of being able to schedule a take-off attempt just after the storm passed. 

There will now be no opportunity for blast-off within the current launch window, which runs until October 4, and NASA has not indicated when another launch might be attempted.

The next window runs from October 17 to 31, and again from November 12 to 27 — both with some exceptions.

The storage decision represents only the latest setback for Artemis 1, after previous launch attempts were canceled due to the hurricane and a fuel leak. 

This latest Moon mission comes 50 years after the final flight of the Apollo program, with Artemis 1 set to show whether the Orion capsule, situated on top of the rocket, is safe to transport humans back to the Moon’s surface.