Dodged a Bullet

I wrote about Otso a few months ago. The stock looked undervalued. I dumped my position after the company did a massively diluted deal ahead of going into operation. It didn't make sense with cash flow set to rise and it was at far below market prices. At that time, I was miffed that insiders were getting a far better deal. Instead, I dodged a bullet.

Information Regarding the Detention of Brian Wesson, Former CEO Otso Gold Corp.

Otso Gold Corp. ("Otso" or the "Company"), (TSXV: OTSO) has been informed by government authorities in Finland that Brian Wesson ("Mr Wesson"), formerly the CEO and a Director of Otso and currently the Managing Director of Lionsbridge Capital Pty., has been detained and is under investigation by law enforcement authorities in that country. Mr. Wesson and Lionsbridge until recently were retained by the Company to manage the Otso Gold Mine.

Mr Wesson resigned without prior notice from the Board of Directors of Otso, and from his position as CEO of Otso, on the morning of 30 November 2021, after representatives of the Board of Directors of the Company together with Alvarez & Marsal (currently providing Chief Restructuring Officer and Chief Financial Officer services to the Company) informed him that they were on their way to the mine site. Clyde Wesson, formerly a Vice President and a Director of Otso, also resigned at this time.

Following the resignation notice, Alvarez & Marsal in its Chief Restructuring Officer and Chief Financial Officer capacities, has acted immediately to ascertain the whereabouts of certain computer devices, files and property owned by Otso that appears to have been taken from the Company at the same time as the resignations, and is investigating certain issues and discrepancies relating to the Company's financial transactions and records.

The Company has acted swiftly to inform law enforcement of these matters, and understands that Mr Wesson was apprehended on 30 November 2021 and that he remains in pre-trial custody under criminal suspicion of aggravated embezzlement and payment fraud.

Under Finnish law, all pre-investigation material and information is confidential and the precise details of the charges Mr Wesson is facing have not been disclosed publicly.

A spokesperson for the Company said:

"The criminal suspicions facing Mr Wesson are extremely serious. We are grateful to the Finnish authorities for the speed of their response and we will continue to assist law enforcement in their investigation. The Board of Directors of the Company has undertaken to investigate, and will continue to investigate, former management's practices and operations, including for compliance with the Company's internal policies, legal and ethical standards.

At this time, owing to the abrupt departure of Mr Wesson, The Company has been left without control of bank accounts, email and document servers. Once control has been reinstated, the Company will resume the publication of press releases on its website. The Company intends to act regarding these matters in the best interests of the Company, and in cooperation with the legal proceedings in Finland and elsewhere."

Where there is smoke...if a CEO doesn't take care of shareholder money when doing fundraising deals, why should you think he has shareholders interests in mind when he's spending the company's money? This is an exterme case, but many companies out there are run by people who legally use their companies like ATMs.

Finland Shifts Right

Millionaire businessman wins Finland election

YLE forecast Sipila won 46 seats in the 200-member parliament, with Stubb's center-right National Coalition with 37 seats and center left Social Democrats with 37 seats. The euro skeptic and anti-immigration Finns Party was fourth with 35 seats.

...While the Finns Party did worse than expected - latest polls had them a close second - Sipila may still favor the populists over the center-left Social Democrats in building a new coalition, analysts say.

Sipila has said he is open to including the Finns Party in a coalition, even though they could complicate ties with Europe because they oppose bailouts and want to kick Greece out of the euro zone.

"If The Finns go to government, I believe Finland's policy towards Greece will change. It will change for the better, because it can't get any worse," Finns Party leader Timo Soini told reporters.

The Finns Run on Greece

Soini tags Greek bailout for election platform

Finns Party chair Timo Soini said that the election result in Greece shows that the European Union’s aid policy has been flawed.

“The election result is a knockout blow to this flawed aid policy. Mistakes have been made for five years and this is the result,” Soini told Yle’s Aamu-tv breakfast programme Monday.

Soini said that he will use the Greek bailout saga as the main platform theme for Finland’s general election due in April. He added that Greece is now more indebted than it was before the eurozone crisis began.

“When Finland began this kind of aid policy at the hands of the old parties, our share of the burden was zero euros, now it’s seven billion euros,” Soini remarked.

The evolving expectation seems to be the Greeks will be pushed to the wall and then get a deal. It appears there will be domestic political costs for many northern European, pro-euro political parties.

Following on the Heels of India, Europe to Swing Right

Aside from the bigoted menace in the UK, France is slated to deliver an election victory to the National Front in this week's European elections.

In Finland, the True Finns are slated to pick up seats. One candidate slated to win big is Jussi Halla-aho:

On 27 March 2009, the Helsinki District Court ordered Halla-aho to trial on charges of ethnic agitation as well as breach of the sanctity of religion. The charges arose after Halla-aho posted remarks related to the sentencing of Seppo Lehto on his blog Scripta. In the course of the remarks, Halla-aho said the prophet Muhammad was a paedophile, and Islam is a religion of paedophilia, because Muhammad had intercourse with his 9-year-old wife and according to Sunnah, Mohammed's life is exemplary in every way. He also asked if it could be stated that robbing passersby and living on taxpayers' expense are cultural and possibly genetic characteristics of Somalis. This was stated in sarcastic response to a Finnish columnist who wrote that drinking excessively and fighting when drunk were cultural and possibly genetic characteristics of Finns.[31][32]

On 8 September 2009, the District Court convicted Halla-aho of disturbing religious worship, and ordered him to pay a fine of 330 euros.[33] The charge of ethnic agitation was dismissed. In October 2010 the Court of Appeal agreed with the District Court's conviction.[34] Both the prosecutor and Halla-aho appealed the case to the Supreme Court.[35] The Supreme Court granted a leave to appeal in May 2011.[36] In a sentence given on the 8 of June 2012, the Supreme Court found Halla-aho guilty of both disturbing religious worship and ethnic agitation and increased his fines accordingly.[37]

In Poland: the Polish party that wants to turn EC building in Brussels into brothel

A Polish political party whose leader has called for the restoration of Poland's monarchy, an end to universal suffrage and for the European Commission building in Brussels to be converted into a brothel is on the verge of winning seats in the European parliament.

Polls ahead of this month's European elections have put the New Right Party, led by Janusz Korwin-Mikke, on six per cent, which might be enough to secure it seven seats.

Regarded as a flamboyant eccentric, Mr Korwin-Mikke's radical views have long confined him to the far fringes of Polish politics, and his party holds no seats in the national parliament.

But it looks as if he has now tapped into a pool of anti-European sentiment in Poland that has been bolstered by an increasing number of young voters who have grown weary of the traditional order, and want an extreme alternative.

Although they are a fringe party, the leading parties in Poland are the center and right-wing parties. The right (Law and Justice) appeared headed to victory, but the situation in Ukraine changed the debate. Main parties neck-and-neck as the Polish European election enters the final straight

Also: The Polish Electoral Matrix

On the other hand, the Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) party and other rightist parties see the current situation as a test for Western Europe that will give Poland an answer as to whether the allies’ obligations are to be fulfilled. The Polish right’s general conclusion is that only close cooperation between the Central and Eastern European countries, as presented by the late Polish president Lech Kaczyński, can save the region from Russian imperialism. The governing Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska PO) party definitely remains convinced of the benefits of EU membership. Being in the mainstream of EU integration and trying to persuade the Western partners to accept the Polish view on Ukraine are the main goals set by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski.

Interestingly, security seems to dominate the EP campaign. Even Donald Tusk underlines this fact in the film that initiated the governing party’s election run. “What’s at stake during this election is security,” he says. Moreover, in his speech at the party’s EP election summit, he asked rhetorically, “Will Polish children go to schools on the first of September?” referring to the beginning of World War Two.

In Belgium: European Parliament Election: David Cameron may be forced into alliance with Europe's far-right

An alternative ally could be NVA, a separatist party pressing for Flanders to break away from Belgium, a link that would sit uncomfortably with the Tories’ fierce opposition to Scottish Nationalism.

Belgium won’t split after Sunday’s elections, but it could take a step in that direction

On May 25 Belgium will hold its regional, federal and European elections. Like in 2010, the centre-right and Flemish nationalist New Flemish Alliance (Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie or N-VA) is expected to be the strongest party both in Flanders and in Belgium as a whole – even though it is not part of the country’s six-party ruling coalition, led by social-democrat Elio Di Rupo. From this position of strength, the N-VA’s proposals are dominating the election debate.

The N-VA, under the decade-long leadership of Bart de Wever, stands for confederalism in the short term and independence in the long term. The party proposes that Belgium would have two autonomous entities –- Flanders and Wallonia –- and a bilingual capital, Brussels.

In Denmark: Danish Peoples Party tops poll ahead of EU elections

Following weeks of intense debate about child benefits for EU workers in Denmark, the eurosceptic and anti-immigrant Danish People's Party is now the most popular party with 27% support. It has overtaken the Social Democrats (23%) and the Liberals (21%), according to a poll by A&B Analyse for Altinget.dk.

As the graphic below shows, the far right is set to triple the turnout of the far-left. The center-right also looks set to defeat the center left. And if one considers that some left-wing parites, such as the SNP in Scotland are for independence, the tide of nationalism is stronger than it looks from the numbers.

Finland is willing to leave the eurozone

Finland Would Rather Exit Euro Than Pay for Others

"Finland is committed to being a member of the euro zone, and we think that the euro is useful for Finland," Urpilainen told financial daily Kauppalehti, adding though that "Finland will not hang itself to the euro at any cost and we are prepared for all scenarios."

"Collective responsibility for other countries' debt, economics and risks; this is not what we should be prepared for," she added.

Urpilainen's spokesman Matti Hirvola stressed to AFP that the minister's comments did not mean Finland was planning to exit the euro zone.

"All claims that Finland would leave the euro are simply false," he said.

They're not leaving yet, but they've thought about it.

Blame the Finns, or blame social mood?

New Rift Over Terms Threatens Greece Aid

The €110 billion ($158 billion) bailout package for Greece could be disrupted if other countries seek to imitate Finland's deal on collateral, the commission, the European Union's executive arm, said.

Finland and Greece announced a deal Tuesday under which Greece would deposit about €500 million in an escrow account with the Finnish government, as a precondition for Finland agreeing to release funds from the euro-zone's bailout fund.

The bailout fund's loans are guaranteed by the euro zone's solvent member states. The latest Greek bailout deal is politically contentious in Finland, where many voters and lawmakers opposed further aid loans. To assuage fears that taxpayers' money will be lost, the Finnish government insisted on obtaining collateral from Greece in return for underwriting the rescue loans.

Finland's quest for special treatment has drawn criticism from other euro-zone members, including Austria, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia and Estonia. Several officials from those countries have said that if Finland can get collateral from Greece, then others should, too.