New Utopia
New Utopia | |
---|---|
Unrecognized micronation | |
Claimed by | Howard Turney |
Dates claimed | 1995–?, 2017–? |
Area claimed | Misteriosa Bank |
New Utopia, officially the Principality of New Utopia, is a micronation claiming the Misteriosa Bank, an unclaimed undersea rise of land in the Caribbean Sea off the Cayman Islands where it is hoped to build structures raised up from the underwater land. It was first proclaimed on 13 April 1999 by American businessman Howard Turney ("Prince Lazarus"), under the name Lazarus Long; the project has recently been revived (in early 2017).
History
The project was founded in 1995 when Lazarus Long, the founder of New Utopia, came across a shallow unclaimed underwater area in the Caribbean Sea. He then filed a claim with the United Nations. Long raised up to $100 million from investors from all over the world, with a majority coming from the United States. Then, 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.
New Utopia's project was restarted in early 2017 by Lazarus Long's daughter Elizabeth Henderson, who promised to have the Project completed by 2021.[3] The project has not had any updates since.
Structure
The social model and trade system would have been hyper-capitalistic, modeled after the writings of
Founder
Before creating New Utopia, Howard Turney had been introduced to the
Lazarus Long died on 26 April 2012 at the age of 80.[7]
See also
References
- ^ "EXHIBIT: Fake Nations", Quatloos.com. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
- ^ 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)
- ^ "Principality Of New Utopia". Principality Of New Utopia. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
- ^ ISBN 9780813537986
- ^ ISBN 9780313345067
- ISBN 9781458732309
- ^ The Independent, "Prince Lazarus rules the waves", Tim Hulse, 30 May 1998