New Utopia

Principality of New Utopia
Micronation
Official languages English
Organizational structure Constitutional monarchy
 •  Prince John
Purported currency New Utopian Crown (UTC)

The Principality of New Utopia[1] is a micronation project established by the late Lazarus Long (a.k.a. Howard Turney).[2]

History

The project was publicised by various media outlets in Europe and the United States. In an article about fake nations, Quatloos.com called "New Utopia" a "fake nation scam".[1] The micronation was also briefly mentioned as a scam in a Business Week e.biz online article[3] and in a Wired News piece;[4] the latter noted, however, that "Turney... firmly maintains his intention to build the archipelago paradise once he raises enough cash".

Long operated a Web site to promote the so-called micronation tax haven, which he claimed was to be constructed on concrete platforms at the Misteriosa Bank 115 miles west of the Cayman Islands.[5][6][7] He offered US$350 million in unregistered bonds[8] and also promoted a currency purchase program by promising returns of up to 200 percent.[5]

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) termed New Utopia a "fraudulent nationwide Internet scheme",[1] and complained that Long had made "material misrepresentations and omissions concerning, among other things, the status of construction of the project, the companies associated with the project, the safety of the investment, and the status of the Commission's investigation into his activities."[2] The SEC's case against Long (SEC v. Lazarus Long) ruled against Long in 2000, ordering him to pay a disgorgement of US$24,000, the amount he had collected thus far.[2] The latter condition was subsequently waived due to Long's inability to pay.[8] Long maintained that the project is real and offered 'charter citizenship' to individuals who "contribute" at least US$10,000 (increased from US$1,500).[9]

New Utopia's "UK Pro Consul" was interviewed by Danny Wallace for his 2005 BBC2 series about micronations, How to Start Your Own Country in which he claimed the country's sovereignty had been recognised by the 'Principality of Thaumaturgy'. Wallace questioned the existence of Thaumaturgy[10]

Structure

The social model and trade system would have been hyper-capitalistic, modelled after the writings of Ayn Rand, Napoleon Hill, Robert Heinlein, Dale Carnegie and Adam Smith.[11] Long also promised that the tiny nation would have a clinic better than the Mayo Clinic, a casino modelled after the Monte Carlo Casino, and "the ultimate luxury spa".[11] Residents would live in one of the 642 apartments and condos that would be built.[12] It would have been a tax haven, with all services paid by a 20% tax on imported consumable goods.[12]

Founder

Before creating New Utopia, Howard Turney had been introduced to the Human Growth Hormone (HGH) by an anti-aging doctor. He was so impressed with the results that he became an advocate of the hormone and he created in February 1993 a longevity spa called El Dorado Clinic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. In 1995 he changed his name after Lazarus Long, a recurrent character in Heinlein's novels who goes through several rejuvenation treatments in order to live hundreds of years and eventually become immortal. Also around 1995 he stopped injecting HGH in the El Dorado clinic because of the corruption of local officers, and he moved to the US. A few years later he had to stop injecting HGH also in the US when doctors stopped prescribing due to illegal doping in sport. Then he tried to fund New Utopia, a place where the government couldn't tell him what he could do and what he couldn't. But in 1999 the SEC closed his bond offering because the bonds were unregistered with them.[13] He dedicated the rest of his life to the creation of New Utopia.

Lazarus Long, who was 66 years old in 1998,[14] died on 26 April 2012.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "EXHIBIT: Fake Nations", Quatloos.com. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 US SEC ruling, Litigation Release No. 16425 / February 4, 2000. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Lazarus R. Long (a/k/a Howard Turney individually and doing business as New Utopia,) USDC/NDOK/TULSA CA No. 99CV 0257BU(M)
  3. ↑ McNamee, Mike, "Invest in Freedonia!", Business Week e.biz, 11 December 2000. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
  4. ↑ Blumberg , Alex, "It's Good to Be King", Wired 8.03, March 2000. Retrieved 8 May 2007
  5. 1 2 McMillan, Alex Frew (2000-04-25). "Beware of Net stock scams". CNN Money. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  6. ↑ Perlman, Jay (2000-02-23). "Securities Fraud: Bogus Offerings". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  7. ↑ Peter Lilley (2003), Hacked, Attacked & Abused: Digital Crime Exposed, Kogan Page Publishers, p. 90, ISBN 9780749438746
  8. 1 2 Reagan, Brad (2002-01-14). "Strange -- but Not True". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  9. ↑ "Citizenship & Nationality". Principality of New Utopia. United Earth Group of Companies. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  10. ↑ How To Start Your Own Country - S1E5.avi - YouTube
  11. 1 2 Wheeler W. Dixon (2006), Visions of Paradise: Images of Eden in the Cinema (illustrated ed.), Rutgers University Press, pp. 40–41, ISBN 9780813537986
  12. 1 2 John R. Wennersten (2008), Leaving America: The New Expatriate Generation, Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 47–48, ISBN 9780313345067
  13. ↑ Arlene Weintraub (2011), Selling the Fountain of Youth: How the Anti-Aging Industry Made a Disease Out of Getting Old-And Made Billions, ReadHowYouWant.com, pp. 10–11, 13–14, 21–23, 28, ISBN 9781458732309
  14. ↑ The Independent, "Prince Lazarus rules the waves", Tim Hulse, 30 May 1998
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