Whitehaven Coal v Jonathan Moylan
SURELY this will see the fraudsters end up in prison:
Environmental campaigners sparked a 9pc dive in the share price of Australian miner Whitehaven Coal after issuing a fake press release regarding a multi-million dollar funding facility.
The fake press release was issued by Frontline Action for Coal. Spokesman Jonathan Moylan said: “The future of our farmlands, our forests, our health, our climate – these are the biggest threats humanity faces and they are far more important than concerns over liability.”
The fall in Whitehaven’s share price wiped A$314m off its stock market valuation and brought a halt to trading in its shares.
The ABC:
The activist who caused a $314 million temporary plunge in Whitehaven Coal’s share price could face 10 years in jail, despite having no intention of personally profiting from his fake press release.
Does that matter?
Says Moylan:
“There may well be consequences for me, and fairly severe consequences, time will tell if that’s the case, but my concern is what happens to society at large and what happens to the local community.”
Anyone on his side?
SW Greens senator Lee Rhiannon has taken to Twitter to praise the man who temporarily wiped more than $314 million from the value of Nathan Tinkler’s Whitehaven Coal on Monday morning. “Congrats to Jonathan Moylan, Frontline Action on Coal, for exposing ANZ investment in coalmines,” Senator Rhiannon tweeted yesterday.
It is all about morals? Tim Blair notes: “…in 2008, when young Jonathan took part in a Uniting Church seminar that asked: Would Jesus Burn Coal? Well, let’s see what the Bible has to say:
And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again …
And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.”
How did he do it?
From his bunker in NSW’s Leard State Forest, where he has been holed up for the past 159 days, Mr Moylan told The Daily Telegraph he had received numerous voicemails from ASIC, but didn’t plan to return their calls. He has been involved in a protest against coal mining in the forest which is the site of a proposed Whitehaven mine, near Narrabri. He created the hoax from his campsite, using a sporadic internet connection.
Posted: 10th, January 2013 | In: Money Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
