Howard Turney (Lazarus Long)

Howard Turney (1931-2012), also known as Lazarus R. Long and Prince Lazarus I, was an American entrepreneur and self-proclaimed monarch of the Principality of New Utopia. By his own accounting, Turney was a self-educated genius, and in the 1970s was the inventor of Otter Pops, a frozen fruit juice snack, as well as varied other products. During the 1980s, Turney ran a cogeneration power plant business, promoted methods for the mass farming of shrimp, and operated a star-naming registry, eventually moving on in the 1990s to the promotion of rejuvenation and longevity via HGH (human growth hormone) injections, and, ultimately, the establishment of his own constitutional monarchy in the Caribbean.

Legal Documents

 * SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. LAZARUS R. LONG (a/k/a Howard Turney), individually and doing business as NEW UTOPIA Civil Action No. 99CV0257BU(M), USDC, ND/OK, (Tulsa Division), https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr16110.txt "Today Judge Michael Burrage, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Tulsa Division, granted the Commission's request for an emergency restraining order to halt a fraudulent nationwide Internet scheme involving the offer and sale of a bogus $350 million bond offering. According to the Commission's Complaint, Lazarus R. Long, a/k/a/ Howard Turney, and doing business as New Utopia, used an Internet website called 'New Utopia' to entice and solicit investor funds for the development of a supposed new 'tax haven' country called 'New Utopia.'  This new country would be located approximately 115 miles west of the Cayman Islands.  According to its website, New Utopia is a country that will rise from the Caribbean on giant concrete platforms built on an underwater land mass.  In addition to offering the unregistered bonds, Long represented that currency investments in New Utopia would yield up to a 200% market rate of return.  'Prince' Long used E-mail to tell investors that they could buy a New Utopia government 5 year note at 9.5%, and invited them to become charter citizens of the new country. Long has also touted his Internet offering through the use of print and radio media, including the London Times, Dallas Morning News and a nationally syndicated radio show.  The complaint reveals that Long's Internet website received over 100,000 Internet 'hits.'  The site itself is over 100 (printed) pages with electronic links to numerous other sites."
 * 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), https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr16425.htm "The Complaint, which was filed by the Commission on April 8, 1999, alleged that between May 1998 and March 1999, Long offered and sold securities over the Internet to purportedly fund a new country he claimed was being developed in the middle of the Caribbean Ocean. Long named his new country 'New Utopia.' In connection with the sales of the New Utopia securities, the Complaint alleged that Long 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. Long was successful in raising $24,000 from the sales of securities."