Defendant Wrote Threatening Letter Following Altercation with Voter; Posed as Voter in Letter
MACON, Ga. – A former Georgia poll worker pleaded guilty to mailing a letter that threatened to bomb a Jones County precinct and harm poll workers and admitted to lying to the FBI during the investigation.
Nicholas Wimbish, 25, of Milledgeville, pleaded guilty to conveying false information about a bomb threat and making hoaxes before U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell on Feb. 14. Wimbish faces a maximum of five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a maximum $250,000 fine. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 13. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Bomb hoaxes and similar threats create grave and unnecessary disruptions in our communities, pulling vital law enforcement resources and terrifying people,” said Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker. “Our office and law enforcement partners take these types of threats seriously and will pursue federal prosecution when warranted.”
“The FBI takes all threat-to-life matters very seriously,” said Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Robert Gibbs of FBI Atlanta’s Macon office. “This arrest demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to hold accountable anyone who tries to intimidate a public official or interfere with the elections process.”
According to court documents and statements referenced in court, Wimbish was employed as a poll worker at the Jones County Elections Office in Gray, Georgia, on Oct. 16, 2024, when he had a verbal altercation with a voter. Later that evening and into the early hours of Oct. 17, 2024, Wimbish conducted relevant online research and then drafted a letter posing as the voter threatening to bomb the polling place. Wimbish mailed the threatening letter to the Jones County Elections Superintendent from a “Jones County Voter” on Oct. 17, 2024. It arrived at the election office on Oct. 22, 2024.
Wimbish admitted he intended the letter to appear as if it came from the voter and added details to make it seem like the voter was targeting Wimbish and other poll workers. For example, it said, “Yesterday I had your young liberal woke idiot Nicholas Wimbish give me hell,” that “he tries to influence peoples votes in line,” and that “I researched a newspaper article about Nicholas Wimbish and other woke liberal fraudsters impostering to be patriots.” The letter threatened that Wimbish and others “should look over their shoulder,” that “I know where they all go,” that “I know where they all live because I found home voting addresses for all them,” that “the liberal young men will get beatdown if they fight me,” that “they will get the treason punishment by firing squad if they fight back,” and that “they should watch every move they make looking over their shoulder.” Further, the letter threatened to “rage rape” the “ladies” and warned them to “watch every move they make and look over their shoulder.” Below the typewritten letter, Wimbish wrote a note by hand, “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe.” Wimbish admitted he knew that a “boom toy” was a term for an explosive device. Wimbish also acknowledged that he lied to FBI agents investigating the mailed threat and falsely stated that he believed the Jones County voter sent the letter and that he had not conducted online research on himself. The letter was found on Wimbish’s computer.
The FBI Atlanta Field Office investigated the case.
Deputy Criminal Chief William R. “Will” Keyes and Trial Attorney Madison Mumma of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section (PIN) are prosecuting the case for the Government with assistance from Senior Counsel Ryan Dickey of the DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).
LAS VEGAS – A Las Vegas woman pleaded guilty yesterday to carrying out a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $137,000 from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA), the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL).
Kelly Ann Mogavero, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 21, 2025, before United States District Judge Cristina D. Silva.
“Kelly Mogavero, a convicted felon recently released from prison, fraudulently collected unemployment insurance (UI) benefits intended for American workers who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Quentin Heiden, Special Agent-in-Charge, Western Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. “Yesterday’s guilty plea highlights our strong collaboration with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada and our law enforcement partners to ensure the integrity of the UI system and secure justice for the American taxpayer.”
According to court documents and admissions made in court by Mogavero, from June 3, 2020, to June 23, 2001, she devised and carried out a scheme to defraud Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR), the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES), and the Small Business Administration (SBA) in an attempt to fraudulently obtain $137,600 in relief benefits from the PUA, PPP, and EIDL programs.
As part of the scheme, while she was under United States Probation’s supervision, Mogavero fraudulently filed for unemployment insurance in both Nevada and Arizona and submitted at least two fraudulent applications for EIDLs and one fraudulent application for a PPP loan. Mogavero submitted materially false and fraudulent information, including that she was the sole proprietor of several companies which did not in fact exist, for which she stated false revenue amounts, and—for one of the EIDL applications—a false number of employees. Mogavero also submitted falsified tax documents in support of each application. As a result of her scheme, Mogavero successfully obtained more than $44,000 in relief benefits to which she was not entitled.
In October 2016, Mogavero was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the District of Nevada and she was sentenced to 46-months in custody followed by five years of supervision.
At sentencing, Mogavero faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence of each defendant after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting United States Attorney Sue Fahami, Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans for the FBI Las Vegas Division, and Special Agent-in-Charge Quentin Heiden, Western Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG) made the announcement.
The FBI, DOL-OIG, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General Office of Investigations – COVID Fraud Unit, Office of Inspector General U.S. Small Business Administration, and the Office of Inspector General Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Consumer Financial Protection Bureau investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Kimberly Frayn is prosecuting the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit Justice.gov/Coronavirus and Justice.gov/Coronavirus/CombatingFraud.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
HOUSTON –A 25-year-old Houston resident has been ordered to federal prison for interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei.
The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Caleb Pickens guilty Nov. 8, 2024, following a four-day trial.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner has now ordered Pickens to serve 722 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the sentencing hearing, the court heard evidence of Pickens’ conduct while in jail and immediately after trial. Following the verdict, Pickens exhibited obstructive behavior by grabbing a full water bottle and slinging it at the prosecution table. He then threw the water bottle at the lead case agent. Pickens also fought with officers in the courtroom.
In handing down the sentence, the court noted Pickens’ abhorrent behavior, his lack of remorse, the court’s need to protect the public from him and his propensity for violence, as well as his violence towards officers while performing their duties. Judge Hittner said he believes Pickens to be a true danger to the public and recommended he be placed in a maximum security prison.
“Today’s sentence appropriately accounts for defendant’s violent nature and the seriousness of his offense,” said Ganjei. “Day after day, case by case, the southern District of Texas and its law enforcements partners are striving to make Houston a safer place to live and work.”
In early January 2024, law enforcement began investigating a series of armed robberies at McDonalds and other fast-food restaurants and convenience stores which occurred during the month of January. This eventually led them to Pickens.
At trial, the jury heard Pickens had worn either a red Nike sweatshirt or a black hooded jacket while committing a series of armed robberies at McDonald’s locations. He also brandished a pistol. Occasionally, he had held the gun to victims’ heads, backs or stomachs and demanded money from the safe. In one incident at a local McDonald’s, he fired his pistol into a microwave oven.
During the robberies, Pickens would order the manager to hand over the money from the safe before exiting through the restaurant’s back door. He then fled the locations in a stolen black Chevrolet Tahoe that had a broken left rear window, used scissors to start the ignition and drove away.
Law enforcement located the vehicle and began conducting surveillance. On Jan. 23, 2024, the Chevy Tahoe arrived at a McDonald’s in Houston where Pickens again committed another armed robbery. Authorities arrested him on scene. At that time, he was wearing the same Nike sweatshirt and hooded jacket from previous robberies and was in possession of a pistol.
At trial, the defense attempted to convince the jury the government had not proved a robbery of McDonald’s affected interstate commerce. They did not believe those claims and found Pickens guilty as charged.
He has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The Houston Police Department’s Violent Crime Task Force and FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jill Stotts and Brian Hrach are prosecuting the case.
Jackson, Miss. – A Jackson man was sentenced to 51 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
According to court documents, on August 28, 2023, Freddie Antwan McField, 44, was found in possession of a firearm by Hinds County Sheriff’s Office Deputies. McField has prior felony convictions for armed robbery, kidnapping, and motor vehicle theft.
McField was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 9, 2024 for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pled guilty on November 5, 2024.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Robert Eikhoff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement.
The case was investigated by the FBI and Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Allen prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James E. Dennehy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging DAVID MACEY, a criminal defense attorney based in Florida, with bribery of a public official, conspiracy to bribe a public official, honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, for a scheme in which MACEY paid tens of thousands of dollars to a senior Special Agent (“Agent-1”) with the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), in exchange for Agent-1 providing sensitive law enforcement information to MACEY to assist MACEY in recruiting and representing clients. MACEY will be presented before Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron later today. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Reardon.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “As alleged, David Macey provided secret payments to a senior DEA special agent in exchange for access to sensitive information that Macey could use to enrich himself, including information regarding sealed indictments and impending arrests. This prosecution underscores this Office’s commitment to combatting bribery – especially bribery that compromises law enforcement’s duty to protect and serve the public.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy said: “David Macey, a criminal defense attorney, allegedly bribed a senior federal agent with tens of thousands of dollars for confidential information from law enforcement databases. Macey allegedly breached an expectation of privacy and received unlawful advantageous details to unjustly benefit his practice. The FBI will never tolerate those who engage in corrupt practices with public officials and cheat the investigative nature of our criminal justice system.”
According to the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]
MACEY is a criminal defense attorney based in Coral Gables, Florida. From in or about October 2018 through in or about January 2020, MACEY and a private investigator that worked with MACEY (“Investigator-1”) paid bribes to Agent-1 with the DEA in return for Agent-1 providing non-public, confidential DEA information in breach of Agent-1’s official duties. MACEY and Investigator-1 paid the bribes to Agent-1 using methods designed to conceal MACEY’s own connection to the bribe payments, including by using EDWIN PAGAN III, a former DEA Task Force Officer, as an intermediary. In return for the bribe payments, Agent-1 provided nonpublic, confidential DEA information to MACEY and Investigator-1 so that MACEY and Investigator-1 could use that information in furtherance of MACEY’s legal practice, including to recruit and represent criminal defendants.
Among the benefits paid by MACEY and Investigator-1 to Agent-1 were a $2,500 payment made in November 2018, shortly after Investigator-1’s retirement from the DEA, which was funneled to Agent-1 through a company owned by a close family member of Agent-1. At the same time that this payment was made, MACEY and Investigator-1 began asking Agent-1 to run searches in the DEA’s Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Information System (“NADDIS”), a database that contains confidential information about individuals who are or have been under investigation by the DEA. Following that initial payment, MACEY and Investigator-1 continued to provide benefits to Agent-1, including $50,000 that was paid to Agent-1 for Agent-1’s purchase of a condominium in January 2019 and tens of thousands of dollars that were funneled from Investigator-1 through a company created by PAGAN.
In return, Agent-1 continued to provide nonpublic DEA information to MACEY and Investigator-1, including information about the timing of forthcoming indictments, information about DEA arrest plans of particular targets, and non-public information about arrests of criminal defendants. Agent-1 also continued to search NADDIS for names of particular individuals requested by MACEY and Investigator-1, doing so on dozens of occasions during the scheme. In addition, during the scheme, MACEY and Agent-1 discussed Agent-1’s efforts to influence subjects of DEA investigations to retain MACEY as their attorney.
* * *
MACEY, 54, of Coral Gables, Florida, and PAGAN, 52, of Miami, Florida, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, which carries a maximum term of five years in prison, and one count of receiving or paying a bribe, respectively, which carries a maximum term of 15 years in prison. MACEY and PAGAN are also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services wire fraud, each of which counts carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison. PAGAN is also charged with four counts of perjury in connection with false testimony that he provided in a related criminal trial in November 2023. The charges against PAGAN were unsealed in November 2024.
The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Podolsky praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, and thanked the DEA’s Office of Professional Responsibility for its support in this matter.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Deininger and Mat Andrews are in charge of the prosecution.
[1] The entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
WASHINGTON—Rushan Lavar Reed, 47, and Celeste Nicole Reed, 28, both of Las Vegas, Nevada, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 51 months and 37 months in federal prison, respectively, for participating in a long-term sophisticated drug trafficking conspiracy that illegally distributed “pharmacy grade- not homemade pressed pills” nationwide across seven online darknet markets.
The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, Inspector in Charge Glen Henderson of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Phoenix Division, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Schwartz of the Las Vegas Field Office, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ryan of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.
Rushan Reed, aka “Double R,” and Celeste Reed, aka “Calileone,” each pleaded guilty October 22, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, hydrocodone, and amphetamine. In addition to the prison terms, U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols ordered the couple to serve three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, for six years the married couple operated an online storefront called “MrsFeelGood” to illegally distribute a variety of narcotics across the United States, including the District of Columbia. They used darknet markets that included Monopoly, Versus, ASAP, AlphaBay, Wall Street, Archetyp, Bohemia, Empire, Dream, and White House. In addition to oxycodone, hydrocodone, and amphetamines, they also sold and distributed MDMA, codeine, Vyvanse, Dilaudid, and marijuana. Operating on the darkweb made it possible for the Reeds to hide their identities, hide the location of their computers, and hide their illegal sales. In addition, they used cryptocurrency to launder their money so that the illegal proceeds of their drug trafficking would be difficult to trace.
On October 11, 2023, law enforcement executed arrest warrants at the couple’s Las Vegas home and arrested them both. Officers recovered, among other things: multiple pills in prescription bottles, packaging materials; gloves; black Ziploc bags; and empty prescription pill bottles with the names of the defendants and other uncharged coconspirators. Officers also recovered an assortment of electronic devices and an AR-15 firearm. The laptop was set up to use an operating system designed to access the darknet and protect against surveillance.
This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office, the FBI Las Vegas Field Office, the USPIS Washington Division, and USPIS Phoenix Division.
The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter V. Roman with valuable assistance provided by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Isabelle Sun, former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Crosby, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Wang.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Angel Cooper Vause, 57, of Georgetown, was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators about her role in the 2009 kidnapping and murder of Brittanee Drexel.
According to evidence presented in court, Vause concealed the truth of what happened to Brittanee and her involvement for more than 13 years. Vause told investigators that Brittanee willingly joined her and Raymond Moody, that she left Moody and Brittanee at the Pole Yard Boat Landing near Georgetown, and that she did not take Brittanee’s cell phone with her, when in reality, she participated in Brittanee’s abduction and was complicit in her rape and murder. On the night of Brittanee’s disappearance in April 2009, Vause assisted Moody in luring the 17-year-old into their vehicle, promising her a ride to her hotel. Vause left Brittanee alone with Moody at the site of her rape and murder taking her cellphone, her only chance of survival, with her. The judge noted during the sentencing hearing that Vause was a “key participant in this tragedy, facilitating the kidnapping of a child.”
“For more than a decade, Brittanee’s loved ones were left to imagine the worst possible scenario in Brittanee’s disappearance while Vause withheld the truth,” said U.S. Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs for the District of South Carolina. “We hope Brittanee’s loved ones can now have both the closure and a measure of justice that comes with this sentence. May she rest in peace knowing that her mother Dawn was relentless in her pursuit of justice.”
“The FBI is committed to following the evidence to uncover the truth,” said Steve Jensen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Columbia field office. “This sentence underscores the gravity of lying during an investigation. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will always investigate the facts and hold accountable anyone who distorts the truth to obstruct justice.”
United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel sentenced Vause to 216 months imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, the Myrtle Beach Police Department and the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Winston Holliday and Elle E. Klein are prosecuting the case.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)
CHICAGO — Two related Chinese companies conspired with former employees of an Illinois facility operated by Philips Medical Systems to unlawfully possess Philips’ trade secrets, according to an indictment returned in federal court in Chicago.
Philips owned and operated a facility in Aurora, Ill., that engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of X-ray tubes used in computed tomography (CT) medical imaging machines. The company spent years developing its proprietary X-ray technology and selling devices incorporating this proprietary technology to medical facilities. According to the indictment, China-based KUNSHAN GUOLI ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD. and a Kunshan GuoLi vice president, XIAOQIN DU, 63, of Suzhou, China, helped form a rival X-ray tube development company and headquartered it in Aurora. In 2017, Kunshan GuoLi and Du recruited and hired for the new company three engineers from Philips’ Aurora facility, CHIH-YEE JEN, 69, of Mequon, Wisc., FINCE TENDIAN, 56, of Aurora, Ill., and VLADIMIR NEVTONENKO, 76, of Arlington Heights, Ill.
The indictment alleges that before the end of his employment at Philips, Jen copied, without authorization, Philips’ X-ray trade secret information from internal Philips databases. Jen stole the proprietary information on behalf of Kunshan GuoLi and Du, the indictment states. Jen used the stolen information in connection with his work developing X-ray tubes at the rival X-ray tube development company for Kunshan GuoLi and a related Chinese company, KUNSHAN YIYUAN MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD., the indictment states. Jen then shared the information with Tendian, who used it in her work for the new company, the indictment states. Nevtonenko also allegedly possessed and used the stolen information in his work there.
The indictment charges the two Chinese companies and the four individuals with conspiracy to unlawfully possess trade secrets. Jen is also charged with an individual count of possession or attempted possession of a stolen trade secret. Jen, Tendian, and Nevtonenko pleaded not guilty during their arraignments in federal court in Chicago. Arraignments for the companies have not yet been scheduled, and an arrest warrant has been issued for Du. A joint status report on the case will be submitted to U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang by March 31, 2025.
The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kavitha Babu, Vikas Didwania, and Ramon Villalpando.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
OAKLAND – On Valentine’s Day, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a consumer alert warning Californians to beware of romance scams. Romance scams occur when a criminal adopts a fake identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust to manipulate or steal their finances or personal information. This usually occurs through various forms of communication including phone calls, text messages, social media, and dating sites.
“Love should never come at a price,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Scammers can use deception and emotional manipulation to take advantage of people looking for connection. I urge Californians this Valentine’s Day to stay vigilant, protect their hearts and wallets, and remember — if a stranger online asks for money, gift cards, or personal information — it is most likely a scam.”
According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2022 almost 70,000 people reported being victims of a romance scam, reporting an average loss of $4,400. New technology can make it easier for scammers to create sophisticated impersonations and to make more convincing requests for money or personal information. Remember, never send money, gift cards, or other financial details to someone you don’t know and haven’t met in person.
Learn the Warning Signs
You may be dealing with a scammer if they:
Send you photos that look too perfect to be real.
Profess their love to you quickly.
Lavish you with texts, emails and phone calls to draw you in.
Promise to meet in person, but never follow through.
Request to move off the platform where you first connected.
Make an urgent request for money to deal with an emergency or investment.
Protect Yourself from Romance Scams:
Don’t send money to someone you haven’t met in person: This is a common request made by scammers.
Don’t share personal information: Be careful about what personal information you share, such as your address or financial information.
Talk to friends and family: If you’re not sure about someone, talk to your friends and family for a second opinion.
Do your research: Use various search engines to look up a person’s photos and details to see if they have been used elsewhere.
Be wary of any investment offers, particularly those involving cryptocurrency: Scammers often set up fake websites simulating actual cryptocurrency investment opportunities in order to entice unsuspecting investors.
Check for inconsistencies: Watch for inconsistencies in a person’s story, such as changes in details or lack of information about their background.
Use dating apps safely: Avoid moving a conversation to a private messaging platform unless you are certain of the recipient’s identity. Scammers want you to move to an app that doesn’t identify them in real life.
Trust your instincts: If something seems too good to be true, it most likely is.
What to Do If You Suspect a Scam
If you believe you are being targeted by a romance scam, take action immediately:
Stop communicating. Do not engage further with the suspected scammer.
Report the profile. Social media and dating apps have built-in reporting features for fraudulent accounts.
File a complaint. Report scams to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), or your local law enforcement.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Allen Todd May, age 60, was sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud, one count of escape, and one count of aggravated identity theft. May’s sentence is to be served consecutive to the approximately seven years he must serve on a sentence imposed in the Northern District of Texas, which he was serving when he escaped. May was also ordered to serve three years on supervised release after completion of his prison sentence and to pay $9,113,375.49 in restitution, and forfeit the fraud proceeds and assets he obtained during the scheme.
According to the plea agreement, between mid-2016 and December 2018, while serving a 20-year sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Englewood, Colorado, May devised a scheme to falsely and fraudulently claim that he and entities controlled by him were entitled to oil and gas royalties that had not yet been claimed by the true owners. May was able to participate in this scheme through an unlawfully obtained iPhone he purchased from a fellow inmate at the Federal Prison Camp. Throughout the course of this scheme, May obtained more than $700,000 in royalties to which he was not entitled.
At the Federal Prison Camp, May worked as a facilities clerk where he drove vehicles on prison grounds. On December 21, 2018, May drove off the Federal Prison Camp Compound and eluded capture by federal law enforcement for nearly five years. While on the run, May engaged in the same fraudulent oil and gas royalties scheme and netted $8 million in funds to which he was not entitled and used these funds to support his extravagant lifestyle. He stole the identities of inmates serving long sentences, presented himself as those individuals, and conducted his fraud in their names.
The United States Marshals Service arrested May in August of 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he had been living under an alias.
“The people of Colorado and Florida are safer today because Allen Todd May is back behind bars,” said Acting United States Attorney J. Bishop Grewell. “The Federal Government will not rest when it comes to pursuing fraudsters and fugitives.”
“This repeat offender demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law. While in federal prison, he orchestrated a $700,000 fraud scheme, audaciously escaped, and continued to victimize unsuspecting Americans while on the run for five years,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek. “Thanks to the tireless work of the U.S. Marshals Service, he was apprehended, and his criminal activities were stopped. The defendant’s actions leave no doubt that he is a threat to society and deserves to remain incarcerated.”
“On behalf of the U.S. Marshals, I want to recognize and thank the anonymous tipster for the information they provided that directly led to the arrest of this unorthodox fugitive,” said District of Colorado U.S. Marshal Kirk Taylor. “I would also like to thank and recognize the incredible tenacity of the Deputy U.S. Marshals who pursued every lead over the years in the District of Colorado, culminating in the arrest in the Southern District of Florida. Their relentless pursuit of this fugitive and the coordination of the agencies involved is a true testament to the U.S. Marshals Service.”
United States District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico presided over the sentencing.
The United States Marshals Service and the FBI Denver Field Office handled the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Martha Paluch and Tonya S. Andrews handled the prosecution.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News
BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Frank E. Noeson III, 47, of Holland, NY, who was convicted of receipt of child pornography, was sentenced to serve 120 months in prison and 30 years supervised release by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that Noeson, who was then a 5th grade teacher at a local elementary school, engaged in sexual communications with a minor female (Victim) using Snapchat. The Victim was 16 years old when the communications began. During the communications, Noeson persuaded the Victim to create sexually explicit images and videos and send them to him. Noeson also engaged in sexual communications with another minor female victim, who was 15 years-old, using Snapchat. During these communications, the victim sent numerous images and videos of child pornography.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Buffalo Office Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, the FBI Miami Field Office, and the Tonawanda Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Stauffiger.
Source: United States Department of Justice (National Center for Disaster Fraud)
WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Raleigh man was sentenced to 152 months in prison for wire fraud, conspiracy to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute heroin, possession with the intent to distribute heroin, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. On September 16, 2024, and November 4, 2024, Cory Sean Heard, age 47, pled guilty to the charges.
According to court documents and other information presented in court, on February 8, 2021, Heard was pulled over by the Raleigh Police Department for a routine traffic stop. During a search of Heard’s car, officers located a 9mm pistol, a bag of heroin, and a digital scale. Further investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that between 2019 and 2021, Heard sold over 100 grams of heroin.
While investigating Heard for drug distribution, the FBI learned that in March 2020, Heard submitted a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) application and IRS Form Schedule C for a fake business. As a result of this fraudulent EIDL application, Heard received a cash advance. Further investigation revealed that Heard also received PPP funds for an alleged car washing business. As part of the resolution of this case, Heard agreed, and was ordered to pay, $140,000 in restitution to the Small Business Administration.
Daniel P. Bubar, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The Raleigh Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Warlick and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Labresh prosecuted the case.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (video statements)
On this episode of Inside the FBI, learn about Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Fausto Isidro Meza-Flores, who is accused of flooding the U.S. with deadly drugs and other crimes.
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On February 14, 2025 at approximately 5:00 a.m., Battlefords RCMP received a report of an armed robbery on Railway Avenue E in North Battleford, SK.
Officers responded immediately and determined an adult male, who was armed with a firearm, approached a vehicle with two adult females inside. The adult male threatened the vehicle occupants and stole the vehicle. One of the females, 33-year-old Leanna Frenchman, was reportedly still inside. Based on initial investigation and the report made, Battlefords RCMP has not located Leanna and therefore are considering her missing. Investigators are concerned for her wellbeing and continue to actively investigate.
The second adult female exited the vehicle and reported no physical injuries to police.
Initial investigation indicates Leanna Frenchman may be in the presence of an adult male, who was reportedly armed. Initial investigation has determined Leanne and the adult male are not known to one another. It is unknown where they are travelling to, but they were last seen driving in the City of North Battleford in a red 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix with Saskatchewan license plate 186 NSA.
Leanna Frenchman is described as approximately 5’6″ tall and 105 lbs. She has brown eyes and brown hair.
We are working to obtain further descriptors of the suspect.
If you have seen Leanna Frenchman, the red Pontiac Grand Prix, or have information about this investigation, contact your local police at 310-RCMP immediately or 911 in an emergency. Information can also be submitted anonymously by contacting Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or www.saskcrimestoppers.com.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
Scheme Victimized Hundreds of Thousands of People in United States and Abroad
Two Estonian nationals pleaded guilty yesterday for their operation of a massive, multi-faceted cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that victimized hundreds of thousands of people from across the world, including in the United States. As part of the defendants’ guilty pleas, they agreed to forfeit assets valued over $400 million obtained during the conspiracy.
According to court documents, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, both 40, sold contracts to customers entitling them to a share of cryptocurrency mined by the defendants’ purported cryptocurrency mining service, HashFlare. Cryptocurrency mining is the process of using computers to generate cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, for profit.
Between 2015 and 2019, Hashflare’s sales totaled more than $577 million, but HashFlare did not possess the requisite computing capacity to perform the vast majority of the mining the defendants told HashFlare customers it performed. HashFlare’s web-based dashboard, which purported to show customers their mining profits, instead reflected falsified data. Potapenko and Turõgin used the proceeds of the fraud conspiracy to purchase real estate and luxury vehicles and maintained investment and cryptocurrency accounts. Potapenko and Turõgin have agreed to forfeit assets worth, as of the date of the plea, more than $400 million. The forfeited assets will be available for a remission process to compensate victims of the crime. Details about the remission process will be announced at a later date.
Potapenko and Turõgin each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced on May 8 and each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Justice Department thanks the Cybercrime Bureau of the Estonian Police and Border Guard for its support with this investigation. The Estonian Prosecutor General and Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs provided substantial assistance with the extradition. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided extensive assistance to the investigation and the extradition of the defendants.
Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller for the Western District of Washington, Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington of the FBI Seattle Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI Seattle Field Office investigated the case.
Trial Attorneys Adrienne E. Rosen and David Ginensky of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Friedman and Sok Jiang for the Western District of Washington are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jehiel Baer for the Western District of Washington is handling asset forfeiture aspects of the case.
Individuals who believe they may have been a victim in this case should visit www.fbi.gov/hashflare.
Product structured to provide crypto asset exposure by tracking the Nasdaq Crypto US™ Index (NCIUS™), a benchmark for institutional investment in certain market-leading crypto assets
Hashdex and Nasdaq Global Indexes continue to be at the forefront of crypto index product innovation, offering investors and wealth managers access tothefirst multi-asset spot crypto ETP in the United States
New York, February 14, 2025 – Hashdex Asset Management Ltd. (“Hashdex”), a leading global crypto-focused asset manager, and Nasdaq Global Indexes, which has been creating innovative, transparent indexes for more than 50 years, today announced the launch of the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (the “Product” or “NCIQ”) [Ticker: NCIQ], the first multi-asset spot crypto exchange traded product (“ETP”) available to U.S. investors. The Product, which is now trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market® under ticker NCIQ, currently offers exposure to both spot bitcoin (“BTC”) and ether (“ETH”). NCIQ’s management fee is contractually set at 0.25% per annum of the daily net asset value (“NAV”) of the Product through the end of 2025, and then 0.50% thereafter.
The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF provides U.S. investors with direct access to the two leading crypto assets by trading volume in the U.S., currently with a combined market capitalization of over $2.3 trillion,1 all through one tradeable product. NCIQ tracks the Nasdaq Crypto US™ Index (“NCIUS”), which was co-developed by Nasdaq Global Indexes and Hashdex to measure the performance of a material portion of the overall crypto asset market by investing in the index constituents. The NCIUS is based on strict criteria like liquidity, market capitalization, and regulatory compliance. Currently, only bitcoin and ether are eligible for inclusion in the NCIUS. The launch of NCIQ builds on Hashdex’s track record of innovation and global market leadership in crypto index-based products, with the firm currently managing the largest multi-asset crypto ETP in Europe2 and the largest ETF in Latin America.3
“Since our founding, Hashdex has held the belief that a basket of crypto assets offers multiple benefits and is a great way for many investors to participate in the crypto ecosystem. Until today, U.S. investors have been forced to either purchase coins directly or invest in single-asset vehicles,” said Marcelo Sampaio, Co-Founder and CEO of Hashdex. “Now, with the launch of NCIQ, we are proud to deliver a familiar and readily tradeable U.S.-based product that provides seamless exposure to bitcoin and ether. Alongside our partners at Nasdaq Global Indexes, we are thrilled to take this exciting step in bringing our expertise in crypto index and crypto index-based products to U.S. investors, and we look forward to continuing to deliver innovative crypto index products as the industry and regulatory landscape further evolves.”
The launch of NCIQ marks an important milestone in the U.S. crypto market and continues the long-term partnership between Hashdex and Nasdaq Global Indexes. Hashdex and Nasdaq Global Indexes have been among the pioneers in developing crypto index and index-based products since 2021.
“Nasdaq Global Indexes and Hashdex share a mission of advancing crypto asset indexes and financial vehicles to meet the ever-growing demand from investors looking for access to the rapidly evolving crypto sector,” said Cameron Lilja, Vice President and Global Head of Index Product and Operations, Nasdaq Global Indexes. “Nasdaq Crypto™ Indexes offer a standardized approach to capturing the performance of a material portion of the overall crypto asset market, serving as a guidepost in the dynamic crypto asset landscape. Today’s announcement marks a significant step forward in bringing a rules-based methodology-driven benchmark to US investors, adding to comparable products in Europe and Latin America.”
Hashdex serves as the sponsor for NCIQ. Paralel Distributors LLC serves as marketing agent, and Coinbase Custody and BitGo Trust serve as crypto asset custodians. Nasdaq serves as the index administrator and listing venue. The fund administrator is U.S. Bank Global Fund Services.
“With interest in crypto asset ETFs continuing to grow, reaching over $120 billion in U.S. AUM alone4, we believe that what investors really need is an easy, passive way to invest in a product that is constantly evolving to capture the latest trends in the broader crypto market. With a structure similar to traditional index products, NCIQ offers investors a multi-asset investment approach that is proven, familiar, and readily tradeable,” said Samir Kerbage, CIO at Hashdex. “As the crypto market continues to develop, we expect there to be ongoing volatility with newer coins that disrupt the market share of bitcoin, ether and other dominant assets, and we expect index-based products will enable wealth managers and investors to benefit from the growth of the rapidly changing sector without needing to be actively managing single asset crypto exposure.”
Hashdex has no role in maintaining, calculating or publishing NCIUS.
A registration statement (including a prospectus) has been filed with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates and can be found here:https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2031069/000121390025013738/ea0209567-10.htm. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents that have been filed with the SEC for more complete information about NCIQ and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, Hashdex will arrange to send you the prospectus, if you request it by calling toll-free 917-525-5635.
About Hashdex Hashdex is a global pioneer in crypto asset management. The firm’s mission is to provide educational resources and best-in-class products that advance its efforts to help open the crypto ecosystem to investors around the world. Hashdex co-developed the Nasdaq Crypto™ Index (NCI™) with Nasdaq to provide global investors with a reliable benchmark for the crypto asset class. In 2021, Hashdex introduced the world’s first crypto ETF5 and other innovative products, enabling over 350,000 investors to simply and securely add crypto to their portfolios. Since 2018, Hashdex has established itself as a global leader in crypto index ETFs, helping to pave the way for crypto’s mainstream adoption across eight countries. Hashdex currently offers 4 index products tracking the global version of the NCI™, including the largest multi-asset crypto ETF in the world.6 Additionally, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Europe ETP (“HASH”) is the largest multi-asset crypto ETP in Europe and recently won ETF Stream’s Digital Asset ETP of the year award.7 The firm’s total AUM across its range of products is more than $1.3 billion.8
Hashdex Media Contacts: Kendal Till/Josh Gerth Dukas Linden Public Relations Hashdex@DLPR.com
Legal Disclaimer
Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing.
Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. The Product, an exchange traded product, is not an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”). Shares of the Product are not subject to the same regulations and protections as 1940 Act registered ETFs and mutual funds.
Shares of the Product are bought and sold at a market price, not at net asset value. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.
This material expresses the opinion of Hashdex Group and its subsidiaries and affiliates (“Hashdex”) for informational purposes only and does not consider the investment objectives, financial situation or individual needs of any one investor or a particular group of investors. Certain opinions and viewpoints expressed may reflect personal views of the authors and not necessarily those of Hashdex. We recommend consulting specialized professionals for investment decisions. Investors are advised to carefully read the prospectus or regulations before investing in their products. The information and conclusions contained in this material may be changed at any time, without prior notice. Nothing contained herein constitutes an offer, solicitation or recommendation regarding any investment management product or service. This information is not directed at or intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity located in any jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, availability or use would be contrary to applicable law or regulation or which would subject Hashdex to any registration or licensing requirements within such jurisdiction.
Important Risks
Investment in any investment vehicle and cryptoassets is highly speculative and is not intended as a complete investment program. It is designed only for sophisticated persons who can bear the economic risk of the loss of their entire investment and who have limited need for liquidity in their investment. There can be no assurance that the investment vehicle will achieve its investment objective or return any capital. No guarantee or representation is made that Hashdex’s investment strategy, including, without limitation, its business and investment objectives, diversification strategies or risk monitoring goals, will be successful, and investment results may vary substantially over time. Nothing herein is intended to imply that the Hashdex investment methodology or that investing in any of the Product or crypto assets referenced herein may be considered “conservative,” “safe,” “risk free,” or “risk averse.”
Certain information contained herein (including financial information) has been obtained from published and non-published sources. Such information has not been independently verified by Hashdex. Hashdex does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate,” “intend,” “continue” “believe” and “seek” (or the negatives thereof) or other variations thereof. Due to various risks and uncertainties, including those discussed above, actual events or results, the ultimate business or activities of Hashdex and its investment vehicles or the actual performance of Hashdex, its investment vehicles, or crypto assets may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements. As a result, investors should not rely on such forward- looking statements in making their investment decisions. No governmental authority has opined on the merits of Hashdex’s investment vehicles or the adequacy of the information contained herein.
This material is not an offer or solicitation of any kind to buy or sell any securities outside of the United States of America.
Product Risks
An investment in the Product involves significant risks and you could incur a partial or total loss of your investment in the Product.
Crypto assets generally are volatile, and instruments whose underlying investments include crypto assets are not suitable for all investors. Crypto assets represent a new and rapidly evolving industry. The value of the Product depends on the acceptance of the crypto assets, the capabilities and development of blockchain technologies and the fundamental investment characteristics of the crypto assets. Crypto platforms may be largely unregulated or may be largely or entirely non-compliant with applicable regulation and may therefore be more exposed to fraud and failure. Crypto asset markets in the U.S. exist in a state of regulatory uncertainty, and adverse legislative or regulatory developments could significantly harm the Product.
The market for crypto assets is still developing and may be subject to periods of illiquidity. During such times it may be difficult or impossible to buy or sell a position at the desired price. Possible illiquid markets may exacerbate losses or increase the variability between the Product’s NAV and its market price. The lack of active trading markets for the Product shares may result in losses on investors’ investments at the time of disposition of the Product’s shares.
Both the Index and the Product are new with a limited operating history.
Nasdaq® is a registered trademark of Nasdaq, Inc. Corporations make no representation or warranty, whether express or implied, to the owners of the fund(s) or any member of the public regarding the suitability of investing in securities in general or in the fund(s) in particular, or the ability of the Nasdaq Crypto US Index to track the performance of the market for crypto assets, or any portion thereof. The information contained above is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and nothing contained herein should be construed as investment advice, either on behalf of a particular digital asset or an overall investment strategy. Neither Nasdaq, Inc. nor any of its affiliates makes any recommendation to buy or sell any digital asset or any representation about the financial condition of a digital asset. Statements regarding Nasdaq proprietary indexes are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should undertake their own due diligence and carefully evaluate assets before investing. ADVICE FROM A FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL IS STRONGLY ADVISED.
1 Bitcoin’s market cap was $1.92T and ether’s market cap was $387B, according to Messari.io data as of January 13, 2025 2 The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Europe ETP (HASH) is the largest multi-asset crypto ETP in Europe according to Bloomberg fund asset data for the “Western Europe” region as of January 7, 2025 3 The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Fundo de Indice (HASH11) is the largest multi-asset crypto ETF in Latin America according to Bloomberg fund asset data for the “Central & South America” region as of January 7, 2025 4 Blockworks.co data on Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in the U.S. as of February 10, 2025. 5 The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF began trading on the Bermuda Stock Exchange on February 9, 2021. 6 The Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index Fundo de Indice (HASH11) is the largest multi-asset crypto ETF in the world according to Bloomberg fund asset data for all regions as of January 7, 2025 7 https://www.etfstream.com/articles/etf-stream-reveals-winners-of-etf-awards-2024 8 Hashdex AUM data as of February 10, 2025, https://hashdex.com/en-US
GADSDEN, Ala., Feb. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Southern Banc Company, Inc. (OTCBB: SRNN), the holding company for The Southern Bank Company, formerly First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Gadsden, Alabama, announced net income of approximately $369,000, or $0.49 per basic share and $0.48 per diluted share, for the three months ended December 31, 2024, as compared to net income of approximately $471,000, or $0.62 per basic share and $0.61 per diluted share, for the three months ended December 31, 2023. For the six months ended December 31, 2024, the Company recorded net income of approximately $545,000, or $0.72 per basic share and $0.71 per diluted share, as compared to net income of approximately $837,000, or $1.10 per basic share and $1.09 per diluted share, for the six months ended December 31, 2023. The Company’s fiscal year ends June 30, 2025.
Gates Little, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated that the Company’s net interest income before provision for loan losses totaled approximately $2.213 million during the three months ended December 31, 2024, as compared to approximately $2.013 million in the same period in 2023, an increase of approximately $201,000, or 9.96%. The increase in the net interest income before provision for loan losses for the three months ended December 31, 2024, was primarily attributable to an increase in total interest income of approximately $430,000, offset by an increase in total interest expense of approximately $230,000. In the three months ended December 31, 2024, the Bank recorded a provision for loan losses of approximately $70,000 and no provision for loan losses in during the three months ended December 31, 2023. For the three months ended December 31, 2024, total non-interest income increased approximately $9,000, or 6.09%, while total non-interest expense increased approximately $278,000, or 18.25%, as compared to the same three-month period in 2023. The increase in non-interest income was primarily attributable to an increase in miscellaneous income of approximately $10,000. The increase in non-interest expense was primarily attributable to increases in salaries and benefits of approximately $222,000, office building expense of approximately $6,000, other operating expense of approximately $16,000, professional service expense of approximately $45,000, offset by a decrease in data processing expense of approximately $12,000.
For the six months ended December 31, 2024, the Company’s net interest income before provision for loan losses totaled approximately $4.363 million, an increase of approximately $479,000, or 12.33%, when compared to the six months ended December 31, 2023. The increase in net interest income before provision for loan losses was primarily attributable to an increase in total interest income of approximately $965,000, or 20.38%, offset by an increase in total interest expense of approximately $486,000, or 57.19%. For the six months ended December 31, 2024, the Bank recorded provisions for loan losses of approximately $442,000. There was no provision for loan losses during the six months ended December 31, 2023. For the six months ended December 31, 2024, total non-interest income increased approximately $12,000, or 4.10%, compared to the same period in 2023, while non-interest expense increased approximately $444,000, or 14.59%. The increase in non-interest income was primarily attributable to an increase in miscellaneous income of approximately $14,000. The increase in non-interest expense was primarily attributable to increases in salaries and benefits of approximately $340,000, office and equipment of approximately $14,000, professional service expenses of approximately $119,000 offset in part by decreases in data processing expense of approximately $15,000, and other operating expense of approximately $15,000.
The Company’s total assets at December 31, 2024 were approximately $117.0 million, as compared to approximately $113.0 million at June 30, 2024. Total stockholders’ equity was approximately $15.5 million at December 31, 2024, or 13.2% of total assets, as compared to approximately $14.5 million at June 30, 2024, or 12.80% of total assets.
The Bank has four full-service banking offices located in Gadsden, Albertville, Guntersville, and Centre, AL, and one loan production office in Birmingham, AL. The stock of The Southern Banc Company, Inc. trades in the over-the-counter market under the symbol “SRNN”.
Certain statements in this release contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “target,” “plan,” “project,” “continue,” or the negatives thereof, or other variations thereon or similar terminology, and are made on the basis of management’s plans and current analyses of the Company, its business and the industry as a whole. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, economic conditions, competition, interest rate sensitivity and exposure to regulatory and legislative changes. The above factors, in some cases, have affected, and in the future could affect the Company’s financial performance and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized.
(Selected financial data attached)
THE SOUTHERN BANC COMPANY, INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION (Dollar Amounts in Thousands)
December 31,
June 30,
2024
2024
Unaudited
Audited
ASSETS
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
$
16,592
$
12,632
SECURITIES AVAILABLE FOR SALE, at fair value
39,238
37,912
FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK STOCK
120
120
LOANS RECEIVABLE, net of allowance for loan losses of $1,548 and $1,151, respectively
56,999
58,199
PREMISES AND EQUIPMENT, net
1,059
1,133
ACCRUED INTEREST AND DIVIDENDS RECEIVABLE
946
934
PREPAID EXPENSES AND OTHER ASSETS
2,055
2,124
TOTAL ASSETS
$
117,009
$
113,054
LIABILITIES
DEPOSITS
$
95,528
$
92,250
FHLB ADVANCES
0
0
OTHER LIABILITIES
6,035
6,338
TOTAL LIABILITIES
101,563
98,588
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY:
Preferred stock, par value $.01 per share
500,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding
–
–
Common stock, par value $.01 per share,
3,500,000 authorized, 1,454,750 shares issued
15
15
Additional paid-in capital
13,946
13,943
Shares held in trust, 49,081 and 46,454 shares at cost, respectively
(804
)
(772
)
Retained earnings
14,429
13,884
Treasury stock, at cost, 648,664 shares
(8,825
)
(8,825
)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income
(3,315
)
(3,779
)
TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
15,446
14,466
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
$
117,009
$
113,054
THE SOUTHERN BANC COMPANY, INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Dollar Amounts in Thousands, except per share data)
Three Months Ended
Six Months Ended
December 31,
December 31,
2024 (Unaudited)
2023
2024 (Unaudited)
2023
INTEREST INCOME:
Interest and fees on loans
$
2,598
$
2,210
$
5,072
$
4,176
Interest and dividends on securities
179
183
345
369
Other interest income
126
80
281
188
Total interest income
2,903
2,473
5,698
4,733
INTEREST EXPENSE:
Interest on deposits
690
460
1,335
849
Interest on borrowings
0
0
0
0
Total interest expense
690
460
1,335
849
Net interest income before provision for loan losses
2,213
2,013
4,363
3,884
Provision for loan losses
69
0
442
0
Net interest income after provision for loan losses
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News
SACRAMENTO—February is the month of love; unfortunately, not everyone who seems to be looking for love has good intentions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Sacramento Field Office is issuing an urgent warning: perpetrators are posing as perfect partners to ensnare heart and wallets. Their schemes are very sophisticated and have harvesting and personal information and savings.
The warning about these scams has never been more urgent. Confidence fraud and romance scams result in some of the most significant financial losses when compared to other Internet-facilitated crimes. In 2023 alone, 17,832 victims reported more than $650 million in losses. Sadly, this number is conservative. Many victims suffer in silence, too ashamed or afraid to come forward.
While finding love on dating sites or with remote partners with whom you’ve connected with through social networks or affinity groups online isn’t impossible, heartless perpetrators lurk within online communities and platforms, seeking hearts and finances to ensnare. If you think you won’t be targeted, think again; people of all ages and backgrounds can fall victim to a romance scam.
Romance and confidence scams start with seemingly innocent contact online and builds into a carefully orchestrated scheme. While the elements may vary to best ensnare the intended victim, thee scams often include the following elements:
The person harvests information about you from your online presence to establish a quick and seemingly significant bond.
The person showers you with attention and appears to have an unusually high number of common interests and similar background.
Images are exchanged and video chats are conducted using images and content that are synthetic or gleaned from online sources.
The FBI urges the public to beware of some common red flags:
You have yet to physically meet your beloved and have been met with excuses when trying to arrange an in-person connection.
You have been asked to provide money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.
You have been given directions for investing money on specific online platforms.
You have been asked to receive and send money on their behalf.
You have been asked to share images that you would not want posted publicly.
If any of the red flags apply to you:
Immediately report any transfer of funds to your financial institution.
File a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
Contact the FBI Sacramento Field Office at 916-746-7000 or your local law enforcement agency.
If you plan to travel to meet your long-distance love, proceed with caution, especially if those plans involve travel to a foreign country. Some victims who have agreed to meet in person with an online love interest have been reported missing or have been injured, and at least one was reported dead. Always review the State Department’s Travel Advisories at http://travel.state.gov/ before travelling.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
NEW YORK, NY—The New York FBI/NYPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is searching for possible victims involved in a child sexual exploitation investigation involving a man named Ramel Warner. A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York indicted Warner on January 28, 2025, with one count of sexual exploitation of a child. The FBI’s New York Office believes there may be additional victims in this case.
Investigators say that Warner, who goes by the nickname Menah, allegedly raped a child in 2022 when he was supposed to be babysitting the child. The defendant recorded six videos of his sexual abuse of the child, which were subsequently distributed on the dark web.
As detailed in court filings, Warner, in the past, has had repeated and close access to children, including in schools. Warner has previously worked with afterschool programs in Brooklyn. At the time of his arrest, the defendant was also involved in a dance group for minor children operating out of a Brooklyn middle school.
The FBI is asking parents or guardians, possible victims, or anyone with information about sexual exploitation by Warner should contact the FBI at RWarnerCase@fbi.gov.
A spontaneous memorial of flowers in St Petersburg, Russia, on the day of Alexei Navalny’s death, February 16 2024.Aleksey Dushutin/Shutterstock
This is the best day of the past five months for me … This is my home … I am not afraid of anything and I urge you not to be afraid of anything either.
These were Alexei Navalny’s words after landing at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on January 17 2021. Russia’s leading opposition figure had spent the past months recovering in Germany from an attempt on his life by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Minutes after making his comments, Navalny was detained at border control. And he would remain behind bars until his death on February 16 2024, in the remote “Polar Wolf” penal colony within the Arctic Circle.
“Why did he return to Russia?” That’s the question I’m asked about Navalny most frequently. Wasn’t it a mistake to return to certain imprisonment, when he could have maintained his opposition to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, from abroad?
But Navalny’s decision to return didn’t surprise me. I’ve researched and written about him extensively, including co-authoring Navalny: Putin’s Nemesis, Russia’s Future?, the first English-language, book-length account of his life and political activities. Defying the Kremlin by returning was a signature move, reflecting both his obstinacy and bravery. He wanted to make sure his supporters and activists in Russia did not feel abandoned, risking their lives while he lived a cushy life in exile.
The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.
Besides, Navalny wasn’t returning to certain imprisonment. A close ally of his, Vladimir Ashurkov, told me in May 2022 that his “incarceration in Russia was not a certainty. It was a probability, a scenario – but it wasn’t like he was walking into a certain long-term prison term.”
Also, Navalny hadn’t chosen to leave Russia in the first place. He was unconscious when taken by plane from Omsk to Berlin for treatment following his poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok in August 2020. Navalny had been consistent in saying he was a Russian politician who needed to remain in Russia to be effective.
In a subsequent interview, conducted in a forest on the outskirts of the German capital as he slowly recovered, Navalny said: “In people’s minds, if you leave the country, that means you’ve surrendered.”
Video: ACF.
Outrage, detention and death
Two days after Navalny’s final return to Russia, the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) – the organisation he established in 2011 – published its biggest ever investigation. The YouTube video exploring “Putin’s palace” on the Black Sea coast achieved an extraordinary 100 million views within ten days. By the start of February 2021, polling suggested it had been watched by more than a quarter of all adults in Russia.
Outrage at Navalny’s detention, combined with this Putin investigation, got people on to the streets. On January 23 2021, 160,000 people turned out across Russia in events that did not have prior approval from the authorities. More than 40% of the participants said they were taking part in a protest for the first time.
But the Russian authorities were determined to also make it their last time. Law enforcement mounted an awesome display of strength, detaining protesters and sometimes beating them. The number of participants at protests on January 31 and February 2 declined sharply as a result.
Between Navalny’s return to Russia in January 2021 and his death in February 2024, aged 47, he faced criminal case after criminal case, adding years and years to his time in prison and increasing the severity of his detention. By the time of his death, he was in the harshest type of prison in the Russian penitentiary system – a “special regime” colony – and was frequently sent to a punishment cell.
The obvious intent was to demoralise Navalny, his team and supporters – making an example of him to spread fear among anyone else who might consider mounting a challenge to the Kremlin. But Navalny fought back, as described in his posthumously published memoir, Patriot. He made legal challenges against his jailers. He went on hunger strike. And he formed a union for his fellow prisoners.
He also used his court appearances to make clear his political views, including following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, declaring: “I am against this war. I consider it immoral, fratricidal, and criminal.”
Navalny’s final public appearance was via video link. He was in good spirits, with his trademark optimism and humour still on display. Tongue firmly in cheek, he asked the judge for financial help:
Your Honour, I will send you my personal account number so that you can use your huge salary as a federal judge to ‘warm up’ my personal account, because I am running out of money.
Navalny died the following day. According to the prison authorities, he collapsed after a short walk and lost consciousness. Although the Russian authorities claimed he had died of natural causes, documents published in September 2024 by The Insider – a Russia-focused, Latvia-based independent investigative website – suggest Navalny may have been poisoned.
A mourner adds her tribute to Alexei Navalny’s grave in Moscow after his burial on March 1 2024. Aleksey Dushutin/Shutterstock
Whether or not Putin directly ordered his death, Russia’s president bears responsibility – for leading a system that tried to assassinate Navalny in August 2020, and for allowing his imprisonment following Navalny’s return to Russia in conditions designed to crush him.
Commenting in March 2024, Putin stated that, just days before Navalny’s death, he had agreed for his most vocal opponent to be included in a prisoner swap – on condition the opposition figure never returned to Russia. “But, unfortunately,” Putin added, “what happened, happened.”
‘No one will forget’
Putin is afraid of Alexei, even after he killed him.
Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s wife, wrote these words on January 10 2025 after reading a curious letter. His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, had written to Rosfinmonitoring – a Russian state body – with a request for her son’s name to be removed from their list of “extremists and terrorists” now he was no longer alive.
The official response was straight from Kafka. Navalny’s name could not be removed as it had been added following the initiation of a criminal case against him. Even though he was dead, Rosfinmonitoring had not been informed about a termination of the case “in accordance with the procedure established by law”, so his name would have to remain.
This appears to be yet another instance of the Russian state exercising cruelty behind the veil of bureaucratic legality – such as when the prison authorities initially refused to release Navalny’s body to his mother after his death.
“Putin is doing this to scare you,” Yulia continued. “He wants you to be afraid to even mention Alexei, and gradually to forget his name. But no one will forget.”
Alexei Navalny and his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, at a protest rally in Moscow, May 2012. Dmitry Laudin/Shutterstock
Today, Navalny’s family and team continue his work outside of Russia – and are fighting to keep his name alive back home. But the odds are against them. Polling suggests the share of Russians who say they know nothing about Navalny or his activities roughly doubled to 30% between his return in January 2021 and his death three years later.
Navalny fought against an autocratic system – and paid the price with his life. Given the very real fears Russians may have of voicing support for a man still labelled an extremist by the Putin regime, it’s not easy to assess what people there really think of him and his legacy. But we will also never know how popular Navalny would have been in the “normal” political system he fought for.
What made Navalny the force he was?
Navalny didn’t mean for the humble yellow rubber duck to become such a potent symbol of resistance.
In March 2017, the ACF published its latest investigation into elite corruption, this time focusing on then-prime minister (and former president), Dmitry Medvedev. Navalny’s team members had become masters of producing slick videos that enabled their message to reach a broad audience. A week after posting, the film had racked up over 7 million views on YouTube – an extraordinary number at that time.
The film included shocking details of Medvedev’s alleged avarice, including yachts and luxury properties. In the centre of a large pond in one of these properties was a duck house, footage of which was captured by the ACF using a drone.
Video: ACF.
Such luxuries jarred with many people’s view of Medvedev as being a bit different to Putin and his cronies. As Navalny wrote in his memoir, Medvedev had previously seemed “harmless and incongruous”. (At the time, Medvedev’s spokeswoman said it was “pointless” to comment on the ACF investigation, suggesting the report was a “propaganda attack from an opposition figure and a convict”.)
But people were angry, and the report triggered mass street protests across Russia. They carried yellow ducks and trainers, a second unintended symbol from the film given Medvedev’s penchant for them.
Another reason why so many people came out to protest on March 26 2017 was the organising work carried out by Navalny’s movement.
The previous December, Navalny had announced his intention to run in the 2018 presidential election. As part of the campaign, he and his team created a network of regional headquarters to bring together supporters and train activists across Russia. Although the authorities had rejected Navalny’s efforts to register an official political party, this regional network functioned in much the same way, gathering like-minded people in support of an electoral candidate. And this infrastructure helped get people out on the streets.
The Kremlin saw this as a clear threat. According to a December 2020 investigation by Bellingcat, CNN, Der Spiegel and The Insider, the FSB assassination squad implicated in the Novichok poisoning of Navalny had started trailing him in January 2017 – one month after he announced his run for the presidency.
At the protests against Medvedev, the authorities’ growing intolerance of Navalny was also on display – he was detained, fined and sentenced to 15 days’ imprisonment.
The Medvedev investigation was far from the beginning of Navalny’s story as a thorn in the Kremlin’s side. But this episode brings together all of the elements that made Navalny the force he was: anti-corruption activism, protest mobilisation, attempts to run as a “normal” politician in a system rigged against him, and savvy use of social media to raise his profile in all of these domains.
Courting controversy
In Patriot, Navalny writes that he always “felt sure a broad coalition was needed to fight Putin”. Yet over the years, his attempts to form that coalition led to some of the most controversial points of his political career.
In a 2007 video, Navalny referred to himself as a “certified nationalist”, advocating for the deportation of illegal immigrants, albeit without using violence and distancing himself from neo-Nazism. In the video, he says: “We have the right to be Russians in Russia, and we’ll defend that right.”
Although alienating some, Navalny was attempting to present a more acceptable face of nationalism, and he hoped to build a bridge between nationalists and liberals in taking on the Kremlin’s burgeoning authoritarianism.
But the prominence of nationalism in Navalny’s political identity varied markedly over time, probably reflecting his shifting estimations of which platform could attract the largest support within Russia. By the time of his thwarted run in the 2018 presidential election, nationalist talking points were all but absent from his rhetoric.
However, some of these former comments and positions continue to influence how people view him. For example, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, Navalny tried to take a pragmatic stance. While acknowledging Russia’s flouting of international law, he said that Crimea was “now part of the Russian Federation” and would “never become part of Ukraine in the foreseeable future”.
Many Ukrainians take this as clear evidence that Navalny was a Russian imperialist. Though he later revised his position, saying Crimea should be returned to Ukraine, some saw this as too little, too late. But others were willing to look past the more controversial parts of his biography, recognising that Navalny represented the most effective domestic challenge to Putin.
Another key attempt to build a broad political coalition was Navalny’s Smart Voting initiative. This was a tactical voting project in which Navalny’s team encouraged voters to back the individual thought best-placed to defeat the ruling United Russia candidate, regardless of the challenger’s ideological position.
The project wasn’t met with universal approval. Some opposition figures and voters baulked at, or flatly refused to consider, the idea of voting for people whose ideological positions they found repugnant – or whom they viewed as being “fake” opposition figures, entirely in bed with the authorities. (This makes clear that Navalny was never the leader of the political opposition in Russia; he was, rather, the leading figure of a fractious constellation of individuals and groups.)
But others relished the opportunity to make rigged elections work in their favour. And there is evidence that Smart Voting did sometimes work, including in the September 2020 regional and local elections, for which Navalny had been campaigning when he was poisoned with Novichok.
In an astonishing moment captured on film during his recovery in Germany, Navalny speaks to an alleged member of the FSB squad sent to kill him. Pretending to be the aide to a senior FSB official, Navalny finds out that the nerve agent had been placed in his underpants.
How do Russians feel about Navalny now?
It’s like a member of the family has died.
This is what one Russian friend told me after hearing of Navalny’s death a year ago. Soon afterwards, the Levada Center – an independent Russian polling organisation – conducted a nationally representative survey to gauge the public’s reaction to the news.
The poll found that Navalny’s death was the second-most mentioned event by Russian people that month, after the capture of the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka by Russian troops. But when asked how they felt about his death, 69% of respondents said they had “no particular feelings” either way – while only 17% said they felt “sympathy” or “pity”.
And that broadly fits with Navalny’s approval ratings in Russia. After his poisoning in 2020, 20% of Russians said they approved of his activities – but this was down to 11% by February 2024.
Video: BBC.
Of course, these numbers must be taken for what they are: polling in an authoritarian state regarding a figure vilified and imprisoned by the regime, during a time of war and amid draconian restrictions on free speech. To what extent the drop in support for Navalny was real, rather than reflecting the increased fear people had in voicing their approval for an anti-regime figure, is hard to say with certainty.
When asked why they liked Navalny, 31% of those who approved of his activities said he spoke “the truth”, “honestly” or “directly”. For those who did not approve of his activities, 22% said he was “paid by the west”, “represented” the west’s interests, that he was a “foreign agent”, a “traitor” or a “puppet”.
The Kremlin had long tried to discredit Navalny as a western-backed traitor. After Navalny’s 2020 poisoning, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that “experts from the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency are working with him”. The Russian state claimed that, rather than a patriot exposing official malfeasance with a view to strengthening his country, Navalny was a CIA stooge intent on destroying Russia.
Peskov provided no evidence to back up this claim – and the official propaganda wasn’t believed by all. Thousands of Russians defied the authorities by coming out to pay their respects at Navalny’s funeral on March 1 2024. Many, if not all, knew this was a significant risk. Police employed video footage to track down members of the funeral crowd, including by using facial recognition technology.
The first person to be detained was a Muscovite the police claimed they heard shouting “Glory to the heroes!” – a traditional Ukrainian response to the declaration “Glory to Ukraine!”, but this time referencing Navalny. She spent a night in a police station before being fined for “displaying a banned symbol”.
Putin always avoided mentioning Navalny’s name in public while he was alive – instead referring to him as “this gentleman”, “the character you mentioned”, or the “Berlin patient”. (The only recorded instance of Putin using Navalny’s name in public when he was alive was in 2013.)
However, having been re-elected president in 2024 and with Navalny dead, Putin finally broke his long-held practice, saying: “As for Navalny, yes he passed away – this is always a sad event.” It was as if the death of his nemesis diminished the potency of his name – and the challenge that Navalny had long presented to Putin.
Nobody can become another Navalny
Someone else will rise up and take my place. I haven’t done anything unique or difficult. Anyone could do what I’ve done.
So wrote Navalny in the memoir published after his death. But that hasn’t happened: no Navalny 2.0 has yet emerged. And it’s no real surprise. The Kremlin has taken clear steps to ensure nobody can become another Navalny within Russia.
In 2021, the authorities made a clear decision to destroy Navalny’s organisations within Russia, including the ACF and his regional network. Without the organisational infrastructure and legal ability to function in Russia, no figure has been able to take his place directly.
More broadly, the fate of Navalny and his movement has had a chilling effect on the opposition landscape. So too have other steps taken by the authorities.
Russia has become markedly more repressive since the start of its war on Ukraine. The human rights NGO First Department looked into the number of cases relating to “treason”, “espionage” and “confidential cooperation with a foreign state” since Russia introduced the current version of its criminal code in 1997. Of the more than 1,000 cases, 792 – the vast majority – were initiated following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian law enforcement has also used nebulous anti-extremism and anti-terrorism legislation to crack down on dissenting voices. Three of Navalny’s lawyers were sentenced in January 2025 for participating in an “extremist organisation”, as the ACF was designated by a Moscow court in June 2021. The Russian legislature has also passed a barrage of legislation relating to so-called “foreign agents”, to tarnish the work of those the regime regards as foreign-backed “fifth columnists”.
Mass street protests are largely a thing of the past in Russia. Restrictions were placed on public gatherings during the COVID pandemic – but these rules were applied selectively, with opposition individuals and groups being targeted. And opportunities for collective action were further reduced following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Freedom of speech has also come under assault. Article 29, point five of the Russian constitution states: “Censorship shall be prohibited.” But in September 2024, Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said: “In the state of war that we are in, restrictions are justified, and censorship is justified.”
Legislation passed very soon after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine made it illegal to comment on the Russian military’s activities truthfully – and even to call the war a war.
YouTube – the platform so central to Navalny’s ability to spread his message – has been targeted. Without banning it outright – perhaps afraid of the public backlash this might cause – the Russian state media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has slowed down internet traffic to the site within Russia. The result has been a move of users to other websites supporting video content, including VKontakte – a Russian social media platform.
In short, conditions in Russia are very different now compared to when Navalny first emerged. The relative freedom of the 2000s and 2010s gave him the space to challenge the corruption and authoritarianism of an evolving system headed by Putin. But this space has shrunk over time, to the point where no room remains for a figure like him within Russia.
In 2019, Navalny told Ivan Zhdanov, who is now director of the ACF: “We changed the regime, but not in the way we wanted.” So, did Navalny and his team push the Kremlin to become more authoritarian – making it not only intolerant of him but also any possible successor?
There may be some truth in this. And yet, the drastic steps taken by the regime following the start of the war on Ukraine suggest there were other, even more significant factors that have laid bare the violent nature of Putin’s personal autocracy – and the president’s disdain for dissenters.
Plenty for Russians to be angry about
How can we win the war when dedushka [grandpa] is a moron?
In June 2023, Evgeny Prigozhin – a long-time associate of Putin and head of the private military Wagner Group – staged an armed rebellion, marching his forces on the Russian capital. This was not a full-blown political movement against Putin. But the target of Prigozhin’s invective against Russia’s military leadership had become increasingly blurry, testing the taboo of direct criticism of the president – who is sometimes referred to, disparagingly, as “grandpa” in Russia.
And Prigozhin paid the price. In August 2023, he was killed when the private jet he was flying in crashed after an explosion on board. Afterwards, Putin referred to Prigozhin as a “talented person” who “made serious mistakes in life”.
In the west, opposition to the Kremlin is often associated with more liberal figures like Navalny. Yet the most consequential domestic challenge to Putin’s rule came from a very different part of the ideological spectrum – a figure in Prigozhin leading a segment of Russian society that wanted the Kremlin to prosecute its war on Ukraine even more aggressively.
Video: BBC.
Today, there is plenty for Russians to be angry about, and Putin knows it. He recently acknowledged an “overheating of the economy”. This has resulted in high inflation, in part due to all the resources being channelled into supporting the war effort. Such cost-of-living concerns weigh more heavily than the war on the minds of most Russians.
A favourite talking point of the Kremlin is how Putin imposed order in Russia following the “wild 1990s” – characterised by economic turbulence and symbolised by then-president Boris Yeltsin’s public drunkenness. Many Russians attribute the stability and rise in living standards they experienced in the 2000s with Putin’s rule – and thank him for it by providing support for his continued leadership.
The current economic problems are an acute worry for the Kremlin because they jeopardise this basic social contract struck with the Russian people. In fact, one way the Kremlin tried to discredit Navalny was by comparing him with Yeltsin, suggesting he posed the same threats as a failed reformer. In his memoir, Navalny concedes that “few things get under my skin more”.
Although originally a fan of Yeltsin, Navalny became an ardent critic. His argument was that Yeltsin and those around him squandered the opportunity to make Russia a “normal” European country.
Navalny also wanted Russians to feel entitled to more. Rather than be content with their relative living standards compared with the early post-Soviet period, he encouraged them to imagine the level of wealth citizens could enjoy based on Russia’s extraordinary resources – but with the rule of law, less corruption, and real democratic processes.
‘Think of other possible Russias’
When looking at forms of criticism and dissent in Russia today, we need to distinguish between anti-war, anti-government, and anti-Putin activities.
Despite the risk of harsh consequences, there are daily forms of anti-war resistance, including arson attacks on military enlistment offices. Some are orchestrated from Ukraine, with Russians blackmailed into acting. But other cases are likely to be forms of domestic resistance.
Criticism of the government is still sometimes possible, largely because Russia has a “dual executive” system, consisting of a prime minister and presidency. This allows the much more powerful presidency to deflect blame to the government when things go wrong.
There are nominal opposition parties in Russia – sometimes referred to as the “systemic opposition”, because they are loyal to the Kremlin and therefore tolerated by the system. Within the State Duma, these parties often criticise particular government ministries for apparent failings. But they rarely, if ever, now dare criticise Putin directly.
Nothing anywhere close to the challenge presented by Navalny appears on the horizon in Russia – at either end of the political spectrum. But the presence of clear popular grievances, and the existence of organisations (albeit not Navalny’s) that could channel this anger should the Kremlin’s grip loosen, mean we cannot write off all opposition in Russia.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, has vowed to continue her husband’s work. And his team in exile maintain focus on elite corruption in Russia, now from their base in Vilnius, Lithuania. The ACF’s most recent investigation is on Igor Sechin, CEO of the oil company Rosneft.
But some have argued this work is no longer as relevant as it was. Sam Greene, professor in Russian politics at King’s College London, captured this doubt in a recent Substack post:
[T]here is a palpable sense that these sorts of investigations may not be relevant to as many people as they used to be, given everything that has transpired since the mid-2010s, when they were the bread and butter of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Some … have gone as far as to suggest that they have become effectively meaningless … and thus that Team Navalny should move on.
Navalny’s team are understandably irritated by suggestions they’re no longer as effective as they once were. But it’s important to note that this criticism has often been sharpest within Russia’s liberal opposition. The ACF has been rocked, for example, by recent accusations from Maxim Katz, one such liberal opposition figure, that the organisation helped “launder the reputations” of two former bank owners. In their response, posted on YouTube, the ACF referred to Katz’s accusations as “lies” – but this continued squabbling has left some Russians feeling “disillusioned and unrepresented”.
So, what will Navalny’s long-term legacy be? Patriot includes a revealing section on Mikhail Gorbachev – the last leader of the Soviet Union, whom Navalny describes as “unpopular in Russia, and also in our family”. He continues:
Usually, when you tell foreigners this, they are very surprised, because Gorbachev is thought of as the person who gave Eastern Europe back its freedom and thanks to whom Germany was reunited. Of course, that is true … but within Russia and the USSR he was not particularly liked.
At the moment, there is a similar split in perceptions of Navalny. Internationally, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, and a documentary about him won an Oscar.
But there are also those outside of Russia who remain critical: “Navalny’s life has brought no benefit to the Ukrainian victory; instead, he has caused considerable harm,” wrote one Ukrainian academic. “He fuelled the illusion in the west that democracy in Russia is possible.”
Trailer for the Oscar-winning documentary Navalny.
Inside Russia, according to Levada Center polling shortly after his death, 53% of Russians thought Navalny played “no special role” in the history of the country, while 19% said he played a “rather negative” role. Revealingly, when commenting on Navalny’s death, one man in Moscow told RFE/RL’s Russian Service: “I think that everyone who is against Russia is guilty, even if they are right.”
But, for a small minority in Russia, Navalny will go down as a messiah-like figure who miraculously cheated death in 2020, then made the ultimate sacrifice in his battle of good and evil with the Kremlin. This view may have been reinforced by Navalny’s increasing openness about his Christian faith.
Ultimately, Navalny’s long-term status in Russia will depend on the nature of the political system after Putin has gone. Since it seems likely that authoritarianism will outlast Putin, a more favourable official story about Navalny is unlikely to emerge any time soon. However, how any post-Putin regime tries to make sense of Navalny’s legacy will tell us a lot about that regime.
While he was alive, Navalny stood for the freer Russia in which he had emerged as a leading opposition figure – and also what he called the “Beautiful Russia of the Future”. Perhaps, after his death, his lasting legacy in Russia remains the ability for some to think – if only in private – of other possible Russias.
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Ben Noble has previously received funding from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. He is an Associate Fellow of Chatham House.
NASHVILLE – A U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement investigation with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation led to a four-count indictment which was unsealed in the Middle District of Tennessee charging eight defendants, with ties to the Tren da Aragua (TdA) gang, with various offenses stemming from their involvement with a transnational commercial sex enterprise.
“The success of this operation to stop Tren da Aragua operating in our communities is a significant step forward in our ongoing battle against human trafficking and transnational organized crime,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Nashville Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud. “This investigation exemplifies the importance of collaboration among local, state, and federal agencies in ending these crimes in our communities. Human exploitation leaves a trail of suffering in its wake.”
The defendants, Yilibeth del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera, 51, Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero, 35, Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca, 39, Wilmarys Del Valle Manzano Solorzano, 22, Frankyanna Del Valle Romero-Rivero, 30, Endrik Alexander Morales-Rivero, 25, Jesus Enrique Castillo Rodriguez, 24, Ariannys Beatriz Gutierrez-Carrillo, 24; all of Venezuela, operated an illegal commercial sex and sex trafficking enterprise out of Nashville motels from July 2022 through March 2024, according to court documents.
The defendants facilitated the victims’ arrival into the United States and used online commercial sex websites to post advertisements and internet or cellular communications to conduct illicit criminal activities, according to the indictment.
“This indictment demonstrates our commitment to stop human trafficking whenever and wherever we find it, and to hold those involved accountable” said acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Robert E. McGuire. “We are coming after transnational criminal organizations like TdA, but this case shows that we will also do whatever it takes to stop those who would traffic women and girls no matter who is behind their suffering.”
“We will not allow TdA – or any criminal organization – to get a stronghold in Tennessee,” said Tennessee Bureau of Investigations Director David Rausch. “We are thankful for our local, state, and federal partners who joined us in investigating this case, and we stand prepared to continue aggressively investigating human trafficking in our state, holding traffickers and buyers accountable and helping victims take their first steps toward becoming survivors.”
A grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee previously returned the four-count indictment charging all eight defendants for roles in facilitating the recruiting of young women from impoverished parts of Venezuela and other South and Central American countries, and their transportation across the U.S. southern border and state lines to engage in commercial sex in the Nashville area.
Three of the defendants, Yilibeth del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera, Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero, and Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca, are additionally charged with sex trafficking conspiracy for conspiring to use force, fraud, and coercion to compel the women into engaging in commercial sex acts for the defendants’ profit that include invoking alleged ties to the Venezuelan gang TdA and its reputation for violence. The indictment further charges defendant Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero with one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.
Mother and son defendants Rivero-De Caldera and Mota-Rivero are charged with conspiring to impose a coercive debt scheme upon the victims to compel them to continue engaging in commercial sex acts until the defendants deemed their debts repaid. Defendants Rivero-De Caldera and Mota-Rivero previously were arrested and detained on state charges relating to their conduct.
The defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Conspiracy to commit interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and conspiracy to commit interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Mota-Rivero also faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if convicted of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.
In addition to ICE HSI Nashville and TBI, the FBI, the DEA, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Shelbyville Police Department, U.S. Secret Service, and additional federal, state, and local Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force partners who coordinated related law enforcement operations across multiple jurisdictions assisted in this investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke K. Schiferle for the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorneys Lindsey Roberson and Jessica Arco of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit are prosecuting the case.
To report any information about human trafficking, child sexual abuse, or the trafficking in child sexual abuse material contact the ICE Tip Line at 1-866-347-2423.
Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GRAVITY Co., Ltd. (NasdaqGM: GRVY) (“Gravity” or “Company”), a developer and publisher of online and mobile games based in South Korea, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and business updates.
Tentative consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024 is KRW 130 billion, and tentative consolidated operating profit is KRW 16 billion.
The preliminary fourth quarter of 2024 result is mainly attributed by increased revenues from THE RAGNAROK launched in Southeast Asia on October 31, 2024, Ragnarok: Rebirth launched in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on October 31, 2024, and Ragnarok X: Next Generation launched in Japan on November 20, 2024. Tentative consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024 represented a 1.3% increase in QoQ and a 10.7% decrease in YoY.
Unaudited preliminary consolidated revenue for 2024 is KRW 501 billion, and the operating profit is KRW 85 billion.
The preliminary 2024 figures are unaudited and subject to revision. Final result for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2024 will be provided by our annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 on Form 20-F.
Liquidity
The balance of cash and cash equivalents and short-term financial instruments was KRW 553,202 million as of December 31, 2024.
GRAVITY BUSINESS UPDATES
Two Ragnarok IP-based Games Received ISBN Codes in China
Ragnarok: Back to Glory (Ragnarok: Rebirth, Chinese title: 仙境传说：重生) and PROJECT ABYSS (Chinese title: 仙境传说：初心) have received ISBN codes from the Chinese government on December 24, 2024 and January 21, 2025, respectively.
Ragnarok Online IP-based Games
THE RAGNAROK, an MMORPG Mobile and PC game
THE RAGNAROK was officially launched in Southeast Asia on October 31, 2024.
Ragnarok in Wonderland, a Casual Healing Tycoon Mobile game
Ragnarok in Wonderland was officially launched in Korea on December 4, 2024.
Ragnarok Classic, an MMORPG PC game
Ragnarok Classic was officially launched in Indonesia on December 5, 2024.
Ragnarok Begins (Chinese Title: RO 仙境傳說：一定要可愛), an Action Side-Scrolling MMORPG Mobile and PC game
Ragnarok Begins (Chinese Title: RO 仙境傳說：一定要可愛) was officially launched in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on February 13, 2025.
Ragnarok M: Classic, an MMORPG Mobile game
Ragnarok M: Classic, a renewal version of Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, is officially launched in Southeast Asia on February 14, 2025, and is underway for its launch in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in the first half of 2025.
Ragnarok 3, an MMORPG Mobile and PC game
Ragnarok 3, the new sequel game of Ragnarok Online, is being prepared to be launched in Global within 2026.
Ragnarok X: Next Generation, an MMORPG Mobile and PC game
Ragnarok X: Next Generation was officially launched in Japan on November 20, 2024 with preparations underway for its launch in North, Central, and South America and Europe in the first half of 2025.
Ragnarok V: Returns, a 3D MMORPG Mobile and PC game
Ragnarok V: Returns will be officially launched in all nations of Southeast Asia in March 2025.
Ragnarok M: Eternal Love 2, an MMORPG Mobile and PC Game
Ragnarok M: Eternal Love 2, the next generation new sequel game of Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, is on development.
Ragnarok Crush, a Puzzle and Tower Defense Mobile game
Ragnarok Crush will be launching in Global except for China and Japan in the third quarter of 2025.
Ragnarok: Back to Glory (Ragnarok: Rebirth), an MMORPG Mobile game
Ragnarok: Back to Glory (Ragnarok: Rebirth) will be re-launched in Southeast Asia and launched in Korea, in the second quarter of 2025.
Ragnarok Idle Adventure Plus, an MMORPG Mobile game
Ragnarok Idle Adventure Plus is underway for its launch in Global except for Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Korea and Japan in February 2025 and in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau in the first half of 2025.
Ragnarok Promised Adventure (tentative English title), an MMORPG Mobile game
Ragnarok Promised Adventure (tentative English title) is scheduled to be launched within 2025.
Ragnarok Online, an MMORPG PC game
Ragnarok Online is scheduled to be direct-serviced in Latin America in the second quarter of 2025.
Ragnarok Landverse, an MMORPG Blockchain and PC game
Ragnarok Landverse Genesis, a global new server onboarding in RONIN platform, will be released in Global in March, 2025. Ragnarok Landverse will be launched in Vietnam in the first half of 2025 and in Latin America in the second half of 2025. Ragnarok Landverse launching in Vietnam is a PC game without Blockchain.
Other IP-based games
TOKYO PSYCHODEMIC, a 2D Cinematic Profiling Adventure PC and Console game
TOKYO PSYCHODEMIC was officially launched in Global on November 28, 2024.
KAMiBAKO, a World Craft RPG PC and Console game
KAMiBAKO was officially launched in Global on January 30, 2025.
Heroes Gambit, a Strategic Card Battle Mobile game
Heroes Gambit will be launched in Global in the first half of 2025.
Scorp Hero, a Character Collecting RPG Mobile game
Scorp Hero is underway for its launch in Japan within 2025.
Snow Brothers 2 Special, an Action and Platformer PC and Console game
Snow Brothers 2 Special will be launched in Global in April 2025.
Gunbound an MMO Turn-Based Artillery PC game
Gunbound will be launched in Southeast Asia and Latin America in the first half of 2025.
Dragonica New Origin, an MMORPG PC game
Dragonica New Origin will be launched in Southeast Asia in May 2025.
Expansion of Other IP business
Gravtiy Co., Ltd. has signed a publishing agreement of Nobunaga’s Ambition: The Road to the World (tentative English title), a simulation mobile game based on Nobunaga‘s IP, in Japan with Kingnet Technology (HK) Limited.
Investor Presentation
Gravity issued an investor presentation. The presentation contains the Company’s recent business updates, results of the fourth quarter in 2024 and Gravity’s business plan. The presentation can be found on the Company’s website under the IR Archives section at https://www.gravity.co.kr/en/ir/updates. Korean and Japanese versions of the presentation are also provided on the website.
About GRAVITY Co., Ltd. ————————————————— Gravity is a developer and publisher of online and mobile games. Gravity’s principal product, Ragnarok Online, is a popular online game in many regions, including Japan and Taiwan, and is currently commercially offered in 91 regions. For more information about Gravity, please visit http://www.gravity.co.kr.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this press release may include, in addition to historical information, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe-harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe”, “project,” or “continue” or the negative thereof or other similar words, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Investors should consider the information contained in our submissions and filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our annual report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 on Form 20-F, together with such other documents that we may submit to or file with the SEC from time to time, on Form 6-K. The forward-looking statements speak only as of this press release and we assume no duty to update them to reflect new, changing or unanticipated events or circumstances.
Contact:
Mr. Heung Gon Kim Chief Financial Officer Gravity Co., Ltd. Email: kheung@gravity.co.kr
Ms. Jin Lee Ms. Yujin Oh IR Unit Gravity Co., Ltd. Email: ir@gravity.co.kr Telephone: +82-2-2132-7800
CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pulse Seismic Inc. (TSX:PSD) (OTCQX:PLSDF) (“Pulse” or the “Company”) is pleased to report its financial and operating results for the year ended December 31, 2024. The audited consolidated financial statements, accompanying notes and MD&A are being filed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and will be available on Pulse’s website at www.pulseseismic.com.
Pulse’s Board of Directors today approved a quarterly dividend of $0.015 per share and additionally declared a special dividend of $0.20 per share. The total of the dividends will be approximately $10.9 million based on Pulse’s 50,837,863 common shares outstanding as of February 13, 2025, to be paid on March 13, 2025, to shareholders of record on February 28, 2025. This dividend is designated as an eligible dividend for Canadian income tax purposes. For non-resident shareholders, Pulse’s dividends are subject to Canadian withholding tax.
“We are very pleased with the Company’s 2024 financial performance, and what we have accomplished so far in 2025. We remain focused on returning capital to shareholders, as deemed appropriate given the annual fluctuations inherent in our business. So far in 2025 we have secured $17.5 million in sales and today the Board of Directors declared a special dividend of $0.20 per share, in addition to the regular quarterly dividend,” stated Neal Coleman, Pulse’s President and CEO. “In 2024, 76% of free cashflow was allocated to dividends and share buybacks, and looking back to Q4 2021, after repayment of the majority of the 2019 acquisition debt, we resumed dividends and share buybacks and have declared $0.83 per share in dividends and decreased our share count by three million,” Coleman concluded.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2024
The return of capital to shareholders in 2024 including all dividends declared in the year and shares purchased under the Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB), totalled $9.5 million, and was 76% of shareholder free cashflow generated for the year;
Dividends of $0.10875 per share were declared in 2024. Regular dividends declared and paid totalled $0.05875 per share. The annualized regular dividend of $0.055 per share was increased by 9% to $0.06 per share in the second quarter of the year. A special dividend of $0.05 per share was paid in the third quarter of 2024;
1,784,000 shares were purchased during the year under the Normal Course Issuer Bid (NCIB) at an average price of $2.17 per share, for total cost of approximately $3.9 million;
Shareholder free cash flow(a) was $12.4 million ($0.24 per share basic and diluted) compared to $24.8 million ($0.47 per share basic and diluted) for the year ended December 31, 2023;
EBITDA(a) was $15.5 million ($0.30 per share basic and diluted) compared to $30.4 million ($0.57 per share basic and diluted) for the year ended December 31, 2023;
Net earnings were $3.4 million ($0.07 per share basic and diluted) compared to net earnings of $15.0 million ($0.28 per share basic and diluted) for 2023;
Total revenue was $23.4 million compared to $39.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023; and
At December 31, 2024, the Company had a cash balance of $8.7 million as well as $5.0 million of available liquidity on its credit facility.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2024
The regular quarterly dividend of $0.015 per share was paid in the fourth quarter;
A total of 97,700 shares were purchased under the NCIB in the fourth quarter, at an average price of $2.32 per share and total cost of approximately $226,000;
Shareholder free cash flow was $2.4 million ($0.05 per share basic and diluted) compared to $10.9 million ($0.21 per share basic and diluted) in the fourth quarter of 2023;
EBITDA was $3.8 million ($0.07 per share basic and diluted) compared to $13.6 million ($0.26 per share basic and diluted) in the fourth quarter of 2023;
Net earnings were $774,000 ($0.02 per share basic and diluted) compared to net earnings of $8.3 million ($0.16 per share basic and diluted) in the fourth quarter of 2023; and
Total revenue was $5.6 million compared to $16.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023.
SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING INFORMATION
(Thousands of dollars except per share data,
Three months ended December 31,
Years ended December 31,
numbers of shares and kilometres of seismic data)
2024
2023
2024
2023
Revenue
5,576
16,861
23,379
39,127
Amortization of seismic data library
2,263
2,270
9,090
9,103
Net earnings
774
8,307
3,391
15,007
Per share basic and diluted
0.02
0.16
0.07
0.28
Cash provided by operating activities
2,337
7,001
14,195
23,524
Per share basic and diluted
0.05
0.13
0.28
0.44
EBITDA (a)
3,785
13,592
15,496
30,431
Per share basic and diluted (a)
0.07
0.26
0.30
0.57
Shareholder free cash flow (a)
2,440
10,946
12,408
24,829
Per share basic and diluted (a)
0.05
0.21
0.24
0.47
Capital expenditures
Seismic data
–
–
225
–
Property and equipment
–
–
45
28
Total capital expenditures
–
–
270
28
Dividends
Regular dividends declared
763
724
3,018
2,862
Special dividends declared
–
10,527
2,548
18,519
Total dividends declared
763
11,251
5,566
21,381
Normal course issuer bid
Number of shares purchased and cancelled
97,700
59,500
1,784,000
1,005,006
Cost of shares purchased and cancelled
227
112
3,880
1,943
Weighted average shares outstanding
Basic and diluted
50,878,652
52,647,740
51,448,985
53,237,569
Shares outstanding at period-end
50,837,863
52,621,863
Seismic library
2D in kilometres
829,207
829,207
3D in square kilometres
65,310
65,310
FINANCIAL POSITION
December 31,
December 31,
(Thousands of dollars except working capital ratio)
2024
2023
Working capital
9,222
7,468
Working capital ratio
5.1:1
1.5:1
Cash and cash equivalents
8,722
15,948
Total assets
21,516
41,249
EBITDA
15,496
30,431
Shareholders’ equity
18,295
25,655
(a) The Company’s continuous disclosure documents provide discussion and analysis of “EBITDA”, “EBITDA per share”, “shareholder free cash flow” and “shareholder free cash flow per share”. These financial measures do not have standard definitions prescribed by IFRS and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies. The Company has included these non-GAAP financial measures because management, investors, analysts and others use them as measures of the Company’s financial performance. The Company’s definition of EBITDA is cash available for interest payments, cash taxes, repayment of debt, purchase of its shares, discretionary capital expenditures and the payment of dividends, and is calculated as earnings (loss) from operations before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The Company believes EBITDA assists investors in comparing Pulse’s results on a consistent basis without regard to non-cash items, such as depreciation and amortization, which can vary significantly depending on accounting methods or non-operating factors such as historical cost. EBITDA per share is defined as EBITDA divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period. Shareholder free cash flow further refines the calculation of capital available to invest in growing the Company’s 2D and 3D seismic data library, to repay debt, to purchase its common shares and to pay dividends by deducting non-discretionary expenditures from EBITDA. Non-discretionary expenditures are defined as non-cash expenses, debt financing costs (net of deferred financing expenses amortized in the current period), net restructuring costs and current tax provisions. Shareholder free cash flow per share is defined as shareholder free cash flow divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period. These non-GAAP financial measures are defined, calculated and reconciled to the nearest GAAP financial measures in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis.
OUTLOOK
Pulse’s ability to predict future revenue generation has always been challenging due to the nature of the business, which naturally fluctuates from year to year. That said, Pulse has had a strong start to the year having closed $17.5 million in sales, representing approximately 75% of sales in 2024. There are generally a mix of positive and negative factors influencing the industry which contributes to the challenge, and at this time in particular, uncertainty concerning 2025 is high. Positive factors in 2024, and recent projections into 2025 include high levels of M & A activity, approximately $19.4 billion in 2024 compared to $16.5 billion in 2023, while the latest annual forecast by Sayer Energy Advisors for 2025 is approximately $15.0 billion. There were continuing high volumes of land sales in Alberta in 2024: approximately $365 million, down only slightly from the $370 million in 2023, and significantly higher than in recent years going back to before the 2014-2015 industry downturn. In British Columbia, land sales which had been paused since May 2021 finally resumed in December 2024. New infrastructure, such as the TMX pipeline expansion which was completed in 2024 has already provided increased export capacity and is a driver of increased drilling activity. The Canadian Association of Energy Contractors, in November 2024 forecast an increase to 6,604 wells to be drilled in 2025, an approximate 7% increase over 2024. The pending completion of LNG Canada’s liquified natural gas export facility is expected to contribute to the forecast increase in drilling and may lead to an improvement in Canadian natural gas prices. The positive factors are offset by factors that create uncertainty for the future, including economic, political, and environmental concerns. It is clear that Canada needs to continue to build pipelines and increase natural gas egress, to support the country’s energy security, as well as to secure new buyers of Canadian energy. The impacts of the recent change in administration in the United States and the uncertainty around energy tariffs and trade policy, together with Canadian federal government leadership changes are contributing to the lack of clarity for the future.
Pulse, as previously stated, has low visibility regarding future seismic data library sales levels, regardless of industry conditions. The Company remains focused on business practices that have served throughout the full range of conditions. The Company maintains a strong balance sheet, has zero debt, no capital spending commitments, and a disciplined and rigorous approach to evaluating growth opportunities. This 15-person company, led by an experienced and capable management team, operates with a low-cost structure and focuses on developing excellent client relations as well providing exceptional customer service. Pulse’s strong financial position, high leverage to increased revenue in its EBITDA margin and careful management of its cash resources have resulted in the return of capital to shareholders through regular and special dividends and the repurchase of its shares.
CORPORATE PROFILE
Pulse is a market leader in the acquisition, marketing and licensing of 2D and 3D seismic data to the western Canadian energy sector. Pulse owns the largest licensable seismic data library in Canada, currently consisting of approximately 65,310 square kilometres of 3D seismic and 829,207 kilometres of 2D seismic. The library extensively covers the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, where most of Canada’s oil and natural gas exploration and development occur.
For further information, please contact: Neal Coleman, President and CEO Or Pamela Wicks, Vice President Finance and CFO Tel.: 403-237-5559 Toll-free: 1-877-460-5559 E-mail: info@pulseseismic.com. Please visit our website at www.pulseseismic.com
This document contains information that constitutes “forward-looking information” or “forward-looking statements” (collectively, “forward-looking information”) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “forecast”, “target”, “project”, “guidance”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “estimate”, “predict” or similar words suggesting future outcomes or language suggesting an outlook.
The Outlook section herein contain forward-looking information which includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding:
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The outlook of the Company for the year ahead, including future operating costs and expected revenues;
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Recent events on the political, economic, regulatory, and legal fronts affecting the industry’s medium- to longer-term prospects, including progression and completion of contemplated pipeline projects;
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The Company’s capital resources and sufficiency thereof to finance future operations, meet its obligations associated with financial liabilities and carry out the necessary capital expenditures through 2025;
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Pulse’s capital allocation strategy;
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Pulse’s dividend policy;
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Oil and natural gas prices and forecast trends;
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Oil and natural gas drilling activity and land sales activity;
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Oil and natural gas company capital budgets;
>
Future demand for seismic data;
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Future seismic data sales;
>
Pulse’s business and growth strategy; and
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Other expectations, beliefs, plans, goals, objectives, assumptions, information and statements about possible future events, conditions, results and performance, as they relate to the Company or to the oil and natural gas industry as a whole.
By its very nature, forward-looking information involves inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. Pulse does not publish specific financial goals or otherwise provide guidance, due to the inherently poor visibility of seismic revenue. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations and anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking information.
These factors include, but are not limited to:
>
Uncertainty of the timing and volume of data sales;
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Volatility of oil and natural gas prices;
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Risks associated with the oil and natural gas industry in general;
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The Company’s ability to access external sources of debt and equity capital;
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Credit, liquidity and commodity price risks;
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The demand for seismic data and;
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The pricing of data library licence sales;
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Cybersecurity;
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Relicensing (change-of-control) fees and partner copy sales;
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Environmental, health and safety risks;
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Federal and provincial government laws and regulations, including those pertaining to taxation, royalty rates, environmental protection, public health and safety;
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Competition;
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Dependence on key management, operations and marketing personnel;
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The loss of seismic data;
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Protection of intellectual property rights;
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The introduction of new products; and
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Climate change.
Pulse cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. Additional information on these risks and other factors which could affect the Company’s operations and financial results is included under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent annual information form, and in the Company’s most recent audited annual financial statements, most recent MD&A, management information circular, quarterly reports, material change reports and news releases. Copies of the Company’s public filings are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
When relying on forward-looking information to make decisions with respect to Pulse, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Furthermore, the forward-looking information contained in this document is provided as of the date of this document and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking information, except as required by law. The forward-looking information in this document is provided for the limited purpose of enabling current and potential investors to evaluate an investment in Pulse. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking information may not be appropriate, and should not be used, for other purposes.
Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
Ranking Members Padilla, Morelle Demand Answers After Trump Administration Moves to Fire Federal Employees Who Fought Election Misinformation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration with oversight over federal elections, and U.S. Representative Joe Morelle (N.Y.-25), Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, pressed senior officials at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for answers after reporting indicated employees who previously worked on election misinformation and disinformation issues were placed on administrative leave last Thursday. The lawmakers raised the alarm on the impacts of these firings on the agency’s ability to conduct essential election-related work.
“Election-related mis- and disinformation from domestic and foreign actors continues to threaten the strength and integrity of our democracy by weakening trust in our elections and promoting falsehoods about election officials that have resulted in threats against them and their families,” wrote the lawmakers. “Understanding the trends in misinformation and providing state and local officials with the tools to counter it is critical to protecting and supporting the effective and secure administration of our elections.”
“Regardless of party affiliation, all Americans deserve and expect free and fair elections,” continued the lawmakers.
The removal of these employees is another example of the Trump Administration ousting career government officials who may have worked on matters that did not align with President Trump’s personal viewpoints, including Attorney General Pam Bondi’s recent shut down of the FBI task force that worked to uncover covert efforts by Russia, China, Iran and other foreign adversaries to manipulate U.S. voters. President Trump also recently took the unprecedented and illegal step of firing Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chair Ellen Weintraub. Yesterday, Senator Padilla led 10 Democratic Senators to demand President Trump rescind this firing.
The lawmakers requested a response by February 28, 2025.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
Dear Ms. Bean and Ms. Harrington:
We write to express grave concern about recent reporting that employees at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the Election Security and Resilience division, including individuals who previously worked on addressing the risks posed by election mis- and disinformation, as well as foreign influence operations, were notified on February 6, 2025, that they were being placed on administrative leave. Furthermore, public reporting notes that two of these individuals “stopped working on mis-, dis- and malinformation over a year ago,” raising significant concerns about how CISA is identifying which employees are being placed on leave.
As you know, a key component of CISA’s mission is to serve as a resource and partner for state and local election officials by identifying and providing resources to address physical and cyber threats to election infrastructure as a part of critical infrastructure. CISA’s establishing legislation clearly directs it to work on elections, with a directive to “coordinate a national effort to secure and protect against critical infrastructure risks” and to “provide analyses, expertise, and other technical assistance to critical infrastructure owners and operators.”
Election-related mis- and disinformation from domestic and foreign actors continues to threaten the strength and integrity of our democracy by weakening trust in our elections and promoting falsehoods about election officials that have resulted in threats against them and their families. Understanding the trends in misinformation and providing state and local officials with the tools to counter it is critical to protecting and supporting the effective and secure administration of our elections. CISA’s recent actions, coupled with the disturbing move by Attorney General Pam Bondi to dissolve the FBI task force that worked to uncover covert efforts by Russia, China, Iran and other foreign adversaries to manipulate U.S. voters, makes our elections more vulnerable to attacks by foreign adversaries.
The removal of these employees raises significant questions as to CISA’s continued commitment to election-related work, particularly as the notifications followed CISA’s notable absence from two conferences for election officials in Washington, D.C.
Out of significant concern for the future of the agency’s work with election officials and safeguarding elections as critical infrastructure, we request responses to the following questions no later than February 28, 2025.
1. How many employees at CISA have been placed on administrative leave, what were their current positions, and what duties were these employees currently assigned?
2. How many employees at CISA currently work on election security?
3. In total, how many employees at CISA currently working on election security have been placed on administrative leave? Do you anticipate additional employees working on election security to be placed on administrative leave, to be directed to undertake other non-election security-related duties, or otherwise impacted by changes in their work?
4. Which contracts have been terminated and how many contract employees are no longer working on election security?
5. What direction has CISA been given by the Department of Homeland Security, the White House, or the Department of Government Efficiency towards the treatment of employees in positions relating to elections?
6. Were employees at CISA given guidance not to attend conferences or to limit other public-facing engagements, including meetings, related to elections or with election officials?
7. Has any guidance been provided to employees on their engagement with election officials? If so, what is CISA’s current guidance?
8. What work is currently ongoing to secure elections and support election officials?
9. What assessment is being done to evaluate CISA’s work during the 2024 election cycle?
10. What work is being done to combat the ongoing threat of election-related mis- and disinformation?
Regardless of party affiliation, all Americans deserve and expect free and fair elections. Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.
Source: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Working with women
Working with ACIAR, Dr Malem McLeod, a soil scientist with the NSW DPRID, highlighted thekelompok wanita tani (KWT)women’s farming groups as a particularly successful initiative that grew organically from local efforts.
‘In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, we met a group of women, of all ages, who were coming together, gardening using a vacant village land. It was a kind of a healing forum to recover from the loss of people and livelihoods and share the challenges of recovery while growing food for family consumption,’ said Dr McLeod. ‘It was also a place for socialisation and information exchange.’
The ACIAR-supported project tapped into this by facilitating the creation of around 30 women’s farming groups across the 4 regions of Aceh. Training was provided for local leaders and extension officers to help the women learn improved techniques for growing vegetables and engage with local business and government, leveraging the support from ACIAR.
In Aceh farming families, the man in the family is the main income earner through growing food crops such as rice and legumes. ‘Although the women contribute significantly to the work on growing the crops, the results are managed by the husband and most women are financially dependent on men,’ explained Dr McLeod.
By growing vegetables in groups, women were able to improve their household food security and generate their own income, which increased their confidence and independence.
Dr Malem McLeod, soil scientist NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
‘Some of the women’s group members became business-minded, even pre-selling their produce to wholesalers. The women also reported that working in the garden with the groups enhanced their physical health and wellbeing.’
Technical training was provided for 245 women and agricultural extension officers, with about 750 women in farmer groups collectively benefitting by A$297,000 a year.
‘The women’s groups facilitated a shift from financial dependence to self-reliant entrepreneurship,’ said Dr McLeod.
She noted that when new farming practices were introduced to men, they used it to improve their own food crop growing. But when new practices were shared with women, they brought them to the whole family and shared it with other women, effectively changing their whole community. ‘The information exchange and improvements became contagious,’ said Dr McLeod.
Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn
WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) commended U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Nominee Kash Patel for their commitments to restore trust in our justice system and end the weaponization and politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that took place under the Biden Administration. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.
“One of President Trump’s most important pledges during the campaign was to end the politicalization and the weaponization of the Department of Justice, including the FBI.”
“Attorney General Bondi and soon-to-be Director Patel are going to have a huge task ahead of them.”
“My goal for the Department of Justice and the FBI is to restore the nonpartisan functioning of our country’s chief law enforcement agencies. The American people deserve an FBI and a Department of Justice that they can trust.”
“President Trump’s Attorney General will have a chance to turn the page from Merrick Garland’s failures by reversing the partisan hackery that has been a part and parcel of President Biden’s Department of Justice.”
“Pam Bondi can serve President Trump and the nation well by enforcing the law that’s on the books and ending the weaponization of political enemies.”
“Similarly, Kash Patel has an opportunity to turn the page from the abuses and the lack of accountability that we’ve seen at the FBI in recent years. So, I look forward to working with Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel in their noble endeavor to restore trust in our nation’s justice system and, by doing so, to restore the trust of the American people.”
Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), U.S. Senator Angus King raised several urgent questions with Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey, the Commander of United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), and Air Force General Gregory Guillot, Commander of United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM). Senator King, pushed the military officials about the lack of military presence and resources in the Caribbean to interdict illegal drug shipments — in addition to in the Arctic to counter Russian and Chinese aggression — as America faces serious threats from the north and south.
Senator King began his line of questioning by pressing Admiral Holsey on why the military and intelligence agencies are only able to interdict a quarter of illegal drug shipments coming into the United States — a rate he’s been critical of across multiple administrations. In the exchange, he mentioned the deathly toll drugs like fentanyl are taking on Maine people.
“Admiral, every year when we have this hearing I talk to the SOUTHCOM commander about the fact that we have intelligence reports about drug shipments coming to the U.S. in the maritime domain and we have the assets to interdict 25% of them.To me, that is straight-up unconscionable. There are people dying in my state from fentanyl overdoses and drug overdoses. We are not meeting because of a lack of allocation of assets the drug shipments that we know about. That is what is so objectionable about this. Is that percentage still reasonable? 75% is not being interdicted that we know of,” asked Senator King.
“About 10 to 20% is what we can get a hold of,” replied Admiral Holsey.
“And that is because of a lack of assets? Is that correct? We don’t have enough boats, ships,” followed up Senator King.
“Yes. Primarily a lack of assets, a lack of resources,” said Admiral Holsey.
“I would argue again that this is a misallocation of recourses. Here is an active attack on America that is killing our citizens, and we don’t have enough ships whether it is the Coast Guard or Navy in the region to interdict these drug shipments. I think that is a dereliction of duty, not of you, but of the entire policy apparatus. This goes back three, four administrations. It is one that I hope that this administration will pay some attention to and correct,” responded Senator King.
Later in the hearing, Senator King, Co-Chair of the U.S. Senate Arctic Caucus, spoke to the United States’ position as an Arctic nation, but pointed out that America’s capabilities in the High North are inadequate when compared to adversaries like Russia and China who are better equipped with more bases and ships like icebreakers. NORTHCOM Commander General Guillot agreed with King that the nation’s presence in the Arctic is “woeful.”
“I was at a conference years ago on the arctic and there was a huge delegation from China and I said, what is China’s interest. They said we are a near arctic nation. My response was Maine is a near Caribbean state. They are very active in increasing their actions. Where are we? Do we have a port facility in the Arctic? Secondly, give us a breakdown of the status of icebreakers. We are woefully inadequate in terms of icebreakers, particular for the use of the Northwest Passage,” said Senator King.
“I was going to use the same word. We are in a woeful situation with icebreakers. The coast guard is working very hard to increase that for us. But at this time, we are completely outnumbered with icebreakers,” agreed General Guillot.
“But they are building one new icebreaker but it is merely a replacement for the ancient one that is about to go out of service. Is that correct,” asked Senator King.
“It is,” replied General Guillot.
“So there is no net gain in icebreakers,” questioned Senator King.
“That’s right,” responded General Guillot.
“And the icebreakers we have commute between the Arctic and Antarctic. Is that not correct,” asked Senator King.
“That is correct,” said General Guillot.
“How many icebreakers do the Russians have in the Arctic,” Senator King again asked.
“Between 20 and 40,” said General Guillot.
“20 and 40 to less than one. I would argue that the icebreakers are the essential infrastructure of the Arctic region and to say we are inadequate and behind where we should be is an understatement,” said Senator King.
After the end of Senator King’s line of questioning, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, shared bipartisan support for securing new icebreakers.
“Senator King, let me just say I think you will find a lot of bipartisan support both in the Congress and in the Administration for a substantial increase quickly in the number of icebreakers,” said Chairman Wicker.
“I believe that is the case; I appreciate that,” replied Senator King.
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Select Senate Committee on Intelligence, Senator King has previously supported legislation to combat illicit drug use and decrease overdoses. He is a cosponsor of the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act, bipartisan legislation that is designed to stop dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped through our borders. Senator King also cosponsored the INTERDICT Act, bipartisan legislation to help halt the flow of illicit fentanyl from Mexico, China and other nations around the world into the United States.During an open hearing of the Select Senate Intelligence Committee last year, Senator King pressed Avril Haines, the former Director of National Intelligence and Christopher Wray, the former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), about what the intelligence community is doing to halt the flow of illicit drugs — including fentanyl — from Mexico, China and other nations into the United States. The most recently-passed National Defense Authorization Act includes multiple King-led provisions and funding authorizations addressing the Department’s mission to address the flow of illicit drugs and the criminal organizations behind that flow into our country. Earlier today, he introduced the bipartisan HALT Fentanyl Act to crack down on illegal fentanyl trafficking.
The Co-Chair of the U.S. Senate Arctic Caucus, Senator King is an advocate for Maine and America’s interests in the North Atlantic and Arctic region. Along with Caucus co-chair Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), King introduced the Arctic Commitment Act in 2022 to improve America’s posture and opportunities in the Arctic. He has been calling for the appointment of an Arctic Ambassador since 2015, and pushed for the confirmation of the first Arctic Ambassador last year. King also laid out the challenges and opportunities of a warming arctic in an article in the Wilson Quarterly, and in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, he successfully secured the inclusion of provisions including funding authorizations for University of Maine to increase America’s activity and opportunities in the Far North.
BATON ROUGE, La., Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — b1BANK, announces the appointment of Senna Bayasgalan as chief marketing officer. Bayasgalan will lead brand and marketing technology initiatives to support the banks’ growth and deepen client relationships. Bayasgalan has over 16 years of experience in marketing leadership, international brand building, communications and customer acquisition across private capital, technology and media industries.
“We are diligent about the culture we are building, and as a result, fortunate to be able to attract top talent from across the nation,” said Jude Melville, chairman and CEO, b1BANK. “We have a good and genuine story, and with more effective use of technology-enabled branding and distribution tools, I am confident that story has the potential to resonate deeply with a larger audience. Senna’s diverse experience leading marketing campaigns across multiple lines of business will accelerate our continued evolution.”
Throughout her career she has skillfully combined data and storytelling to launch international campaigns, build online communities and develop customer retention strategies to grow the brands she has served.
“I was instantly drawn to b1BANK’s unique story and its unwavering commitment to serving businesses and local communities,” said Bayasgalan. “I am excited to partner with the talented team at b1 to elevate the brand, foster innovation and help our clients achieve their goals.”
Bayasgalan is a founding board member of Asians in Advertising, a mentor for APIA Scholars, Women We Create and 3AF, and a frequent guest lecturer at Georgetown University and other institutions. She earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from the University of Texas at Austin.
About Business First Bancshares, Inc. As of Dec. 31, 2024, Business First Bancshares, Inc., (Nasdaq: BFST) through its banking subsidiary b1BANK, had $7.9 billion in assets, $6.9 billion in assets under management through b1BANK’s affiliate Smith Shellnut Wilson, LLC (SSW) (excludes $0.9 billion of b1BANK assets managed by SSW) and operates Banking Centers and Loan Production Offices in markets across Louisiana and Texas providing commercial and personal banking products and services. Commercial banking services include commercial loans and letters of credit, working capital lines and equipment financing, and treasury management services. b1BANK was awarded #1 Best-In-State Bank, Louisiana, by Forbes and Statista, and is a multiyear winner of American Banker’s “Best Banks to Work For.” Visit b1BANK.com for more information.
NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Monteverde & Associates PC (the “M&A Class Action Firm”), has recovered millions of dollars for shareholders and is recognized as a Top 50 Firm by ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. We are headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City and are investigating:
EMCORE Corporation (NASDAQ:EMKR), relating to its proposed merger with Velocity One Holdings, LP. Under the terms of the agreement, EMCORE stockholders will receive $3.10 per share of EMCORE common stock they own.
ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for February 27, 2025.
Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN), relating to the proposed merger with Aya Healthcare. Under the terms of the agreement, shares of Cross Country will be converted into the right to receive $18.61 in cash.
ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for February 28, 2025.
William Penn Bancorporation (Nasdaq:WMPN), relating to its proposed merger with Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of William Penn will receive 0.4260 shares of Mid Penn common stock for each share of William Penn common stock. Additionally, all options of William Penn will be rolled into Mid Penn equivalent options. The implied transaction value is approximately $13.58 per William Penn share.
ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for April 2, 2025.
AlloVir, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALVR), relating to its proposed merger with Kalaris Therapeutics. Under the terms of the agreement, AlloVir will acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interest of Kalaris. Upon completion, pre-Merger AlloVir stockholders are expected to own approximately 25.05% of the combined company.
ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for March 12, 2025.
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What cases did you recover money in and how much?
About Monteverde & Associates PC
Our firm litigates and has recovered money for shareholders…and we do it from our offices in the Empire State Building. We are a national class action securities firm with a successful track record in trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Contact: Juan Monteverde, Esq. MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4740 New York, NY 10118 United States of America jmonteverde@monteverdelaw.com Tel: (212) 971-1341
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(Note: All dollar amounts in this press release are expressed in U.S. dollars except as otherwise noted. The financial results are derived from unaudited financial statements prepared using the recognition and measurement requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS®Accounting Standards”), except as otherwise noted. This press release contains certain non-GAAP and other financial measures, including book value per share and cash and marketable securities, that do not have a prescribed meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and may not be comparable to similar financial measures presented by other issuers. See “Glossary of non-GAAP and other financial measures” at the end of this press release for further details.)
TORONTO, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Fairfax India Holdings Corporation (TSX: FIH.U) announces fiscal year 2024 net losses of $41.2 million ($0.30 net loss per diluted share), compared to net earnings of $371.8 million in fiscal year 2023 ($2.72 net earnings per diluted share). At December 31, 2024 the company’s book value per share decreased 4.1% to $20.96 from $21.85 at December 31, 2023 primarily due to unrealized foreign currency translation losses as the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Indian rupee.
Highlights for 2024 included the following:
Net realized gains on investments of $218.9 million primarily related to realized gains on sales of NSE ($167.3 million) and partial sales of CSB Bank ($43.0 million).
Excluding reversals of prior period unrealized gains primarily related to the sales of NSE ($167.2 million) and CSB Bank ($56.3 million), the company recorded a net change in unrealized gains on investments of $55.1 million, principally from increases in the fair values of the company’s listed investment in IIFL Capital (formerly IIFL Securities) ($183.9 million) and private company investments in BIAL ($78.6 million), Maxop ($43.1 million) and Jaynix ($34.5 million), partially offset by decreases in the fair value of the company’s listed investments in IIFL Finance ($124.2 million) and CSB Bank ($62.2 million), and private company investment in Sanmar ($95.1 million).
Interest and dividend income of $61.5 million primarily related to dividends received from Seven Islands ($29.9 million) and Saurashtra ($4.4 million), and interest earned on bonds ($16.3 million), primarily Government of India bonds.
On October 11, 2024 the company completed its previously announced investment in Global Aluminium Private Limited for a purchase price of $82.7 million (7.0 billion Indian rupees).
On December 3, 2024 the company entered into an agreement to acquire an additional 10.0% equity interest in BIAL through its wholly-owned subsidiary for purchase consideration of $255.0 million (to be paid in three installments over 18 months, with the initial installment of $84.2 million to be paid on closing). On January 28, 2025 the company obtained shareholder approval for a one-time deviation from its investment concentration restriction in order to complete the additional BIAL purchase. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2025.
The company continued to buy back shares under its normal course issuer bid and during 2024 purchased for cancellation 559,047 subordinate voting shares at a net cost of $8.4 million ($15.07 per subordinate voting share).
Fairfax India is in strong financial health, with cash and marketable securities at December 31, 2024 of $214.4 million and an undrawn $175.0 million revolving credit facility.
FAIRFAX INDIA HOLDINGS CORPORATION 95 Wellington Street West, Suite 800, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2N7 Telephone: 416-367-4755
There were 135.0 million and 135.5 million weighted average common shares outstanding during the fourth quarters of 2024 and 2023, respectively. At December 31, 2024 there were 104,839,462 subordinate voting shares and 30,000,000 multiple voting shares outstanding.
Unaudited balance sheets, earnings (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) information follow and form part of this press release.
Fairfax India Holdings Corporation is an investment holding company whose objective is to achieve long term capital appreciation, while preserving capital, by investing in public and private equity securities and debt instruments in India and Indian businesses or other businesses with customers, suppliers or business primarily conducted in, or dependent on, India.
For further information, contact:
John Varnell, Vice President, Corporate Affairs
(416) 367-4755
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements may relate to the company’s or an Indian Investment’s future outlook and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the financial position, business strategy, growth strategy, budgets, operations, financial results, taxes, dividends, plans and objectives of the company. Particularly, statements regarding future results, performance, achievements, prospects or opportunities of the company, an Indian Investment, or the Indian market are forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate” or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might”, “will” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”.
Forward-looking statements are based on our opinions and estimates as of the date of this press release, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the following factors: oil price risk; geographic concentration of investments; foreign currency fluctuation; volatility of the Indian securities markets; investments may be made in foreign private businesses where information is unreliable or unavailable; valuation methodologies involve subjective judgments; financial market fluctuations; pace of completing investments; minority investments; reliance on key personnel and risks associated with the Investment Advisory Agreement; disruption of the company’s information technology systems; lawsuits; use of leverage; significant ownership by Fairfax may adversely affect the market price of the subordinate voting shares; weather risk; taxation risks; emerging markets; MLI; economic risk; trading price of subordinate voting shares relative to book value per share risk; and economic disruptions from the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Additional risks and uncertainties are described in the company’s annual information form dated March 8, 2024 which is available on SEDAR+ atwww.sedarplus.caand on the company’s website atwww.fairfaxindia.ca.These factors and assumptions are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors and assumptions that could affect the company. These factors and assumptions, however, should be considered carefully.
Although the company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.
Information on
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
as at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023
(unaudited – US$ thousands)
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents
59,322
174,615
Bonds
180,507
63,263
Common stocks
3,381,206
3,581,043
Total cash and investments
3,621,035
3,818,921
Interest and dividends receivable
8,849
1,367
Income taxes refundable
174
220
Other assets
722
1,027
Total assets
3,630,780
3,821,535
Liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
1,300
912
Accrued interest expense
8,611
8,611
Income taxes payable
5,379
—
Payable to related parties
10,099
120,858
Deferred income taxes
149,780
108,553
Borrowings
498,349
497,827
Total liabilities
673,518
736,761
Equity
Common shareholders’ equity
2,826,495
2,958,718
Non-controlling interests
130,767
126,056
Total equity
2,957,262
3,084,774
3,630,780
3,821,535
Book value per share
$
20.96
$
21.85
Information on
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS (LOSS)
for the fourth quarters and years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (unaudited – US$ thousands except per share amounts)
Fourth quarter
Year ended December 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Income
Interest
4,049
3,511
19,504
16,833
Dividends
32,769
12,208
41,946
28,831
Net realized gains on investments
217
145,758
218,871
193,203
Net change in unrealized gains (losses) on investments
(23,929
)
44,581
(167,654
)
361,702
Net foreign exchange gains (losses)
(10,282
)
322
(12,616
)
(1,713
)
2,824
206,380
100,051
598,856
Expenses
Investment and advisory fees
10,415
10,720
40,405
39,382
Performance fee
—
27,849
—
69,385
General and administration expenses
1,572
1,884
7,914
12,672
Interest expense
6,380
6,380
25,521
25,521
18,367
46,833
73,840
146,960
Earnings (loss) before income taxes
(15,543
)
159,547
26,211
451,896
Provision for income taxes
15,444
22,794
58,948
68,050
Net earnings (loss)
(30,987
)
136,753
(32,737
)
383,846
Attributable to:
Shareholders of Fairfax India
(35,782
)
134,968
(41,173
)
371,770
Non-controlling interests
4,795
1,785
8,436
12,076
(30,987
)
136,753
(32,737
)
383,846
Net earnings (loss) per basic and diluted share
$
(0.27
)
$
1.00
$
(0.30
)
$
2.72
Shares outstanding (weighted average)
134,994,563
135,464,165
135,165,840
136,818,139
Information on
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
for the fourth quarters and years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (unaudited – US$ thousands)
Fourth quarter
Year ended December 31,
2024
2023
2024
2023
Net earnings (loss)
(30,987
)
136,753
(32,737
)
383,846
Other comprehensive loss, net of income taxes
Item that may be subsequently reclassified to net earnings (loss)
Unrealized foreign currency translation losses, net of income taxes of nil (2023 – nil)
(63,961
)
(6,485
)
(85,545
)
(18,614
)
Comprehensive income (loss)
(94,948
)
130,268
(118,282
)
365,232
Attributable to:
Shareholders of Fairfax India
(96,918
)
128,727
(122,993
)
353,913
Non-controlling interests
1,970
1,541
4,711
11,319
(94,948
)
130,268
(118,282
)
365,232
GLOSSARY OF NON-GAAP AND OTHER FINANCIAL MEASURES Management analyzes and assesses the financial position of the consolidated company in various ways. Certain of the measures included in this press release, which have been used consistently and disclosed regularly in the company’s Annual Reports and interim financial reporting, do not have a prescribed meaning under IFRS Accounting Standards and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Those measures are described below.
Book value per share – The company considers book value per share a key performance measure in evaluating its objective of long term capital appreciation, while preserving capital. This measure is also closely monitored as it is used to calculate the performance fee, if any, to Fairfax Financial Holdings. This measure is calculated by the company as common shareholders’ equity divided by the number of common shares outstanding.
Cash and marketable securities – This measure is calculated by the company as the sum of cash, cash equivalents, short term investments, Government of India bonds and Other Public Indian Investments, in addition to short term receivables from investment custodians relating to dividends received on behalf of the company. The company uses this measure to monitor short term liquidity risk.
