Latest news with #US900
Sydney Morning Herald
10 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Funeral home owner who stashed nearly 190 decomposing bodies sentenced to 20 years prison
Denver: A Colorado funeral home owner who stashed nearly 190 dead bodies in a decrepit building and sent grieving families fake ashes received the maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison on Friday (Saturday ASDT), for cheating customers and defrauding the federal government out of nearly $US900,000 ($1.4 million) in COVID-19 aid. Jon Hallford, owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last year. Prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence and Hallford's attorney asked for 10 years. Judge Nina Wang said that although the case focused on a single fraud charge, the circumstances and scale of Hallford's crime and the emotional damage to families warranted the longer sentence. 'This is not an ordinary fraud case,' she said. In court before the sentencing, Hallford told the judge that he opened Return to Nature to make a positive impact in people's lives, 'then everything got completely out of control, especially me.' 'I am so deeply sorry for my actions,' he said. 'I still hate myself for what I've done.' Hallford will be sentenced in August in a separate state case in which he pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse. Hallford and co-owner Carie Hallford were accused of storing the bodies between 2019 and 2023 and sending families fake ashes. Investigators described finding the bodies in 2023 stacked atop each other throughout a squat, bug-infested building in Penrose, a small town about a two-hour drive south of Denver. The morbid discovery revealed to many families that their loved ones weren't cremated and that the ashes they had spread or cherished were fake. In two cases, the wrong body was buried, according to court documents.
The Age
10 hours ago
- The Age
Funeral home owner who stashed nearly 190 decomposing bodies sentenced to 20 years prison
Denver: A Colorado funeral home owner who stashed nearly 190 dead bodies in a decrepit building and sent grieving families fake ashes received the maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison on Friday (Saturday ASDT), for cheating customers and defrauding the federal government out of nearly $US900,000 ($1.4 million) in COVID-19 aid. Jon Hallford, owner of Return to Nature Funeral Home, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last year. Prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence and Hallford's attorney asked for 10 years. Judge Nina Wang said that although the case focused on a single fraud charge, the circumstances and scale of Hallford's crime and the emotional damage to families warranted the longer sentence. 'This is not an ordinary fraud case,' she said. In court before the sentencing, Hallford told the judge that he opened Return to Nature to make a positive impact in people's lives, 'then everything got completely out of control, especially me.' 'I am so deeply sorry for my actions,' he said. 'I still hate myself for what I've done.' Hallford will be sentenced in August in a separate state case in which he pleaded guilty to 191 counts of corpse abuse. Hallford and co-owner Carie Hallford were accused of storing the bodies between 2019 and 2023 and sending families fake ashes. Investigators described finding the bodies in 2023 stacked atop each other throughout a squat, bug-infested building in Penrose, a small town about a two-hour drive south of Denver. The morbid discovery revealed to many families that their loved ones weren't cremated and that the ashes they had spread or cherished were fake. In two cases, the wrong body was buried, according to court documents.
West Australian
5 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Dale Henderson keeps the faith amid deteriorating lithium market with $1m splurge on PLS shares
The chief of PLS keeps buying millions of dollars worth of his company's stock amid a share price slide showing no signs of abating. Dale Henderson last week bought 755,000 shares in PLS, formerly known as Pilbara Minerals, for a total of $1.01 million — according to filings released to the ASX on Monday. This on-market outlay equates to $1.34 per share and comes seven months after a $1.1m spend on PLS shares. Mr Henderson bought 500,000 shares at $2.23 apiece during this December cash splash. But the spending sprees are unlikely to make a big dent in his bank balance. Mr Henderson's package of salary, shares and performance rights totalled $4.5m for the 2024 financial year. He now owns almost 2.1 million PLS shares, worth approximately $2.5m at current prices, and 2.1m of performance rights. PLS shares have sunk 61 per cent over the past year and 78 per cent since a November 2022 peak of $5.37. Its shares were in the red on Monday despite Mr Henderson's top up, trading down 2 per cent to $1.20 by 11.30am. Mr Henderson has been a vocal lithium bull, even in comparison to his other lithium CEO counterparts. While most miners of the battery mineral were battening down the hatches during the latter half of last year, PLS inked a deal to buy Brazilian-focused lithium developer Latin Resources for $560m. Mr Henderson described the major acquisition as 'counter-cyclical'. At the time of the Latin deal, the benchmark price of the spodumene concentrate lithium product PLS produces was over $US900 per tonne. And a year prior to the date of the deal it was about $US3500/t. It is now currently languishing at just over $US600/t, as slower-than-expected uptake of electric vehicles plus booming supply out of South America, Africa and China drags prices down.
Perth Now
02-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Asian stocks rise on signs of easing trade tensions
Asian stock markets and US futures have risen as signs of possible trade talks between the US and China lifted risk sentiment, after lacklustre earnings from tech bellwethers Apple and Amazon fuelled worries about the impact of tariffs. China's commerce ministry said on Friday the United States has repeatedly expressed its willingness to negotiate on tariffs and that Beijing's door is open for talks. The comments helped US stock futures reverse course from earlier falls after Apple trimmed its share buyback program and warned tariffs could add about $US900 million in costs this quarter. Futures for S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent while those for Nasdaq were 0.3 per cent higher on Friday. Japan's Nikkei gained one per cent on a weaker yen and Taiwan stocks surged two per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 per cent. "They've struck a cautious tone, demanding that the US 'show sincerity' if they want trade talks," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index. "So while olive branch has been offered, you can hardly say China has 'come crawling' like Trump had hoped." Still, investor sentiment turned up on the comments as markets continue to grapple with President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policies that have sparked fears of a sharp global economic downturn. Data this week showed the US economy shrank for the first time in three years in the first quarter, while China's factory activity contracted at the fastest pace in 16 months in April. Joseph Capurso, head of international and sustainable economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said the main impact on the economy from tariffs will be felt when consumer prices rise. "A recession will become likely if the price increases encourage consumers to cut spending and businesses to shrink workforces and cut capital spending. While a recession is not our baseline, it will be a close call this year." The earnings season so far has underscored the cost of the rapidly shifting US trade policy with many companies slashing or pulling their profit forecasts. Still, while investors were disheartened by the earnings from Apple and Amazon, strong results from Microsoft and Meta Platforms earlier in the week had raised hopes that the tech industry could weather the tariff storm. In the currency markets, the Japanese yen weakened to its lowest level since April 10 on Friday, a day after Bank of Japan lowered growth forecasts due to US tariffs and left interest rates on hold. It was last at 145.62 per dollar. Fred Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC, said the impact of tariff uncertainty on the global economy could pose indirect challenges to growth in Japan. "The BOJ (Bank of Japan) is keeping the door open for further rate hikes, but at this point the door is only slightly ajar." That left the US dollar on course for its strongest weekly performance since the end of February ahead of the crucial non-farm payrolls data later in the day. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other units, was last at 100.14. Non-farm payrolls likely increased by 130,000 jobs in April after rising by 228,000 in March, a Reuters survey of economists showed. Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Friday the country's huge $US1 trillion-plus in US Treasury holdings are among the tools available for Tokyo to use in trade negotiations with the United States. The remark came as Japan's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa met with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington for a second round of bilateral tariff talks. In commodities, gold prices eased to $US3,234.9 per ounce, on course for its weakest weekly performance in two months due to slowing safe-haven demand. Oil prices jumped after Trump threatened secondary sanctions on Iran. Brent crude futures rose 0.56 per cent while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 0.6 per cent.
AU Financial Review
02-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Apple and Amazon have no idea what's coming
Skittish tech investors have been desperately looking for concrete answers on just how much US President Donald Trump's tariffs are going to cost them. Apple and Amazon just gave them the corporate equivalent of a giant shrug. Presenting March quarter earnings on Thursday night, Apple boss Tim Cook tried his best to play down the pain. 'Assuming the current global tariff rates, policies and applications do not change for the balance of the [June] quarter, and no new tariffs are added, we make the impact to add $US900 million ($1.4 billion) to our costs,' he told investors.
