Posted on 01/02/2009 2:01:02 PM PST by george76
The University of Utah student who disrupted an oil and gas drilling lease auction last month says he has raised $14,000 of the $45,000 he needs to pay the federal Bureau of Land Management to hold 13 parcels he won.
Tim DeChristopher won the parcels and ran up the bidding on others in an effort to foil the Dec. 19 auction, which drew controversy from the start because of concerns the drilling could damage Utah's wild lands and would be too close to some national parks.
DeChristopher said he never had any intention to develop or pay for the parcels.
But DeChristopher says he hopes putting up the money to hold the land will stall drilling until President-elect Barack Obama takes office, when new officials will be in charge at the BLM and the Interior Department.
Arrest him for fraud.
L
They will if he can’t pony up the money. And I suspect he’ll get the money only if someone with deep pockets pulls his butt out of the fire.
And, as most people in universities are (how did America’s academy become such a seething mob of morons?), he’s ultimately stupid about how quickly the BLM is going to change policy on this issue. There’s notices that have to be flown, comment periods, responses, final proposed rules that have to be flown on the Federal Register, etc, etc.
If The One decided he wanted to change this policy as of 0800 EST 1/21/09, it would be August before the policy went into effect.
In other words, he’s going to have to come up with the money. The Bureau won’t wait that long.
ping
How long until Tim DeChristopher has to raise the rest of the money ?
Fraud. Arrest and imprison him.
I would love it if they found oil or gas on adjacent land. He would spend the rest of his school years thinking about those checks coming in every month. What the hell is he going to school for? He could be making $10k a month instead of working as a Burger King manager.
In Russia or China maybe.
That is auction fraud pure and simple. Fraud is a felony in the United States.
In this case it’s no different then falsely bidding or selling items on ebay (actually worse as oil is a national strategic interest) and ebay frauds get arrested and imprisoned if they are caught. In this case they guy is caught.
Now if he intended on paying for them to lock them up to prevent development then that’s fine, his money to do with as he pleases.
Tim DeCristopher talks with members of the media Friday after he was escorted out of the BLM offices in Salt Lake City following his bid on several oil and gas leases during a BLM auction. His bidding drove up the prices of several auctions and he won an estimated $1.8 million worth of leases. He has no intention of paying for the leases and said it was a way for him to protest the auction.
Thanks.
” His bidding drove up the prices of several auctions and he won an estimated $1.8 million worth of leases...”
I hear Robert Redford gave him a lifetime pass to the Sundance Festival
I believe that you have a certain period of time to develop those leases before they revert back to the BLM. The MMS should have a 1/8th royalty interest and would be pissed that they aren’t getting any royalty payments because of this dofus.
Robert Redford may also him a lifetime pass to the Sundance Ski area where Redford killed all those inoccent trees with their bulldozers, chain saws, and other carbon machines.
Redford is also famous for driving his suburban SUV and flying in private jets.
DeCristopher also inflated the bid prices on leases that he did not win.
There should be a financial arrangement to be able bid.
Maybe there is ?
Like bringing certified funds to get a bid card.
Take his $14,000 and put the parcels back up for sale.
Here’s an idea, tit-for-tat so to speak:
If someone were to bid up his rescue fund... and make other donors not contribute by the January 6th settlement date, and then didn’t contribute... does that make them party to his fraud?
Or here’s another possibility: Someone forwards him a “I’ll buy your lease” letter, and requires that this twerp sign over the lease to gain access to the money required to get his butt out of the jam.
There’s all kinds of ways of turning this stunt back on him. In the next four years of unctuous nonsense we’re going to hear, we can adopt some of their tactics to take these clowns down a peg or three.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.