Manhattan, NY – Last week, a federal court in Manhattan unsealed a lawsuit alleging a sprawling fraud perpetrated against the American people by Cooke, Inc., a foreign company. The lawsuit claims Cooke and its affiliates engaged in a multi-year scheme to deceive the U.S. government about their eligibility for a critical federal program reserved for U.S. citizens under the Jones Act and the American Fisheries Act (AFA).
According to the allegations, Cooke and its partners, including Omega Protein and Alpha VesselCo, have systematically violated the AFA citizenship rule, which mandates that only U.S. citizens can fish in U.S. waters. The complaint details how, instead of complying with the law upon acquiring Omega Protein, Cooke orchestrated a complex corporate shell game. This maneuver involved transferring its fleet of fishing vessels to a Delaware shell company at below-market prices. The holding company was structured to be 20% owned by Omega, a Cooke subsidiary and a non-citizen entity under the AFA, and 80% owned by Seth Dunlop, a U.S. citizen.
However, the lawsuit contends that this arrangement is fraudulent. Dunlop, identified as the nephew of Cooke’s CEO and an employee of Cooke, is alleged to be a mere figurehead. It is claimed that non-citizens Cooke and Omega are improperly controlling the vessels, blatantly violating the AFA.
Cooke, Alpha VesselCo, and Dunlop are accused of concealing these facts from the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD). The lawsuit asserts they breached the AFA’s anti-fraud rule, which mandates vessel owners disclose all relevant ownership and control details to MARAD under penalty of perjury. The rule stipulates fines of up to $154,000 per vessel per day for concealing material facts or making false representations.
Under federal law, the government must revoke the fishery endorsements of any vessels whose owners do not comply with the AFA citizenship requirements.
Supporters of the lawsuit argue that prosecuting Cooke and its conspirators to the fullest extent of the law will demonstrate that the U.S. will not tolerate illegal foreign exploitation of its valuable natural resources. They believe imposing substantial fines on Cooke could serve as a powerful deterrent to future violations and set a significant precedent for law enforcement in the fishing industry.
Seems to be a distinct lack of information regarding what foreign entities are involved in this. I find that curiously interesting and would think it an important component of understanding who is doing what to us now.
If the Companies require listing by a government agency, why not just delist them until and if they can satisfactorily prove they belong on the list? Why is the burden of proof on taxpayers to pay for?
Cooke Inc. is the parent corporation based out of New Brunswick, Canada. Their wholly owned and controlled subsidiary Omega Protein controls the processing plant in Reedville. The fleet which on paper is owned by Ocean Harvesters, an company with American papers has their vessels and their offices based on Cooke Inc./Omega property in Virginia. The allocation is that Omega Protein and Cooke employees have full control over the actions and operations of the fleet. Under their arrangements, if proven, Ocean Harvesters should never have been granted a license to fish in American waters. The taxpayers are not footing the bill for this watch-dog suit. The expenses are being covered by private citizens. The Federal government after a 2 year review of the situation granted the suit authority to go forward. If the suit is decided favorable, then the most likely outcome will be that the companies involved will be fined and the license revoked.
Omega Pays our Politicians Well for allowing the Rape of our Bay. Because Payola works. Developers do the same thing.
I knew of such shenanigans in Virginia Beach years ago and more recently here on the Shore.
Enough money will buy most anything, anyplace.
Sad
Pet Food equals Big $$$, Fools.
Yes it does, but pet food is just a fraction of the business. The bulk of the business is for converting the menhaden into fish farm feed for use in Cooke’s fish farms around the globe. That’s why they bought Omega.
Yo Rinty; who exactly are the Fools? I have a pretty good idea…
‘Yo’ ??? Is that ebonics?
I bet you do, every time you look in the mirror.
Sad
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) a federally funded and sponsored entity responsible for setting quotas for Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and Ocean set 112 million lbs for the Xhesapeake Bay
They admit they have no science on the Bay ecosystem to support that quota – they have no idea how much Menhaden is needed to support the ecosystem and iconic species like Striped Bass and Osprey in high salinity areas
Both Striped Bass and nestingOsprey are in collapse in the Bay
So we have what appears to be a foreign company granted a quota based only on how
Much they catch from the largest estuary in America that fuels the economy of the Eastern Shore
“Yo Rinty” is is what Rusty shouted on almost every episode Of The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin when calling his dog. This was in the early 50’s.
Long before “ebonics”.
I hate a dog…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO6xgWmvHbg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msCcO-nQfg8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF-8way5LZg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0EH8ICwV68
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdoz-rslEVk
They have always copy others, right down to their last name.