Feds are defeated in attempt to keep Mongolian dinosaur skull www.dallasnews.com

For James Godwin, it wasn’t about the money - or even the fossil.

The Wichita Falls anesthesiologist and fossil enthusiast certainly values his Tyrannosaurus bataar skull. But for him, challenging the government’s attempt to take it from him was about principle as well as basic property rights.

“In this country, the government should not be able to walk into your house on some third party’s word and take your property,” Godwin said in an interview Tuesday.

His perseverance paid off.

A federal judge in Fort Worth ruled on Monday in Godwin’s favor after a one-day trial last week over whether the large dinosaur skull should remain with Godwin or be returned to Mongolia from where it was allegedly unearthed years ago.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor agreed with Godwin’s argument that the U.S. attorney’s office waited too long to file its 2017 forfeiture lawsuit, thus violating the five-year statute of limitations.

The government had said that Godwin’s 70 million-year-old dinosaur skull, which belonged to an Asian relative of Tyrannosaurus rex, was among a group of dinosaur fossils stolen from Mongolia years ago.

Godwin, 76, is believed to be the first U.S. owner of a Mongolian dinosaur fossil to contest a government forfeiture action since authorities began cracking down in 2012 on the little-known black market in dinosaur bones.

Since the investigation began, numerous specimens have been returned to Mongolia, and two men were convicted in federal court of smuggling fossils into the U.S. after pleading guilty to the charges against them.

Michael A. Villa Jr., Godwin’s Dallas-based attorney, said a “lack of clarity” over ownership issues related to Mongolian dinosaur fossils remains. The U.S. attorney’s office, he said, cited in court filings a “patchwork” of Mongolian laws that changed over the decades and underwent several different translations in the process.

“And somehow my non-lawyer client is supposed to know all this,” Villa said.

O’Connor, in a recent ruling in the case, wrote that he made no findings as to whether Mongolian law was violated.

The U.S. attorney’s office released a statement Tuesday saying it respects the judge’s decision.

“As the judge noted, our case established probable cause for the forfeiture of the bataar skull, which was stolen from Mongolia for purposes of the National Stolen Property Act and brought into the United States illegally. The Northern District of Texas will continue to vigorously pursue cases involving the theft of cultural property.”

Villa said one of the government’s own experts wrote in a publication that he’d seen dinosaur fossils being sold openly in Mongolian markets. The expert, he said, also wrote that pieces of bataar fossils have been found in China, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Villa said he will ask the government to immediately return his client’s fossil, which is currently being housed in a Montana museum.

Godwin said he will return the skull to its rightful place on a display stand in the museum room of his Wichita Falls house.

“The fundamental premise of this country is that I have a right to my property ... and due process,” he said.

'I felt violated'
Godwin, who has a passion for nature and amateur paleontology, acquired the bataar skull from a Wyoming store he partly owns.

The government's investigation began when someone called federal agents in 2012 to report seeing a bataar skull for sale in the store for $320,000, court records show.

The government brought its lawsuit involving Godwin's fossil under the National Stolen Property Act, which often is used to prosecute antiquities trafficking.

Under the law, the government has five years from the time an offense is discovered to bring a forfeiture lawsuit.

O’Connor ruled that the government discovered the alleged offense when agents prepared a warrant in July 2012 to seize Godwin's fossil. Therefore, that was when the clock had begun ticking on the statute of limitations, the judge said in his ruling.

The U.S. attorney's office, which had argued that the start date occurred later, filed its forfeiture suit in August 2017.

Homeland Security Investigations said that Godwin's bataar skull had been unearthed from the Nemegt Basin in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 2000 and 2011, according to the forfeiture lawsuit. It ended up in the hands of a U.S. citizen living in Japan and was sold several more times before turning up in Godwin’s home, according to court records.

Godwin said that -- in an unnecessary show of force -- armed agents showed up at his house to seize the skull in summer 2013.

“I felt violated,” he said.

Godwin said that prior to a 2012 criminal case in New York involving a different bataar skull, he never considered the legality of owning such a fossil. Mongolian fossils had been sold in the U.S. “for a long time,” he said. Some are currently on view in U.S. museums, he added.

“There was no suggestion at any time that there was anything wrong with it,” he said about selling such dinosaur fossils.

Federal agents displayed a dinosaur fossil that was among more than 18 returned to Mongolia after being seized in the U.S.(ICE)
Federal agents displayed a dinosaur fossil that was among more than 18 returned to Mongolia after being seized in the U.S. (ICE)
Godwin said he belongs to a small community of fossil collectors who are “meticulously honest, law-abiding citizens.” He said he doesn’t recall any discussion about the legality of Mongolian dinosaur fossils prior to 2012.

Federal agents, he said, had woven a grand conspiracy theory involving smuggled dinosaur fossils.

“That ain’t the way it is,” Godwin said.

Godwin said that when he announced his victory in the hospital where he works, he got “hugs and high fives all around.”

Villa said the issue will have to remain murky. No court has ever ruled on what laws were violated in the trade of Mongolian dinosaur fossils in the U.S., he said.

Robert Painter, a Houston lawyer who represented the Mongolian government during the investigation, said there are no other ongoing custody disputes involving his client’s fossils in the U.S. He said more than 100 fossils were returned to Mongolia during the investigation.

Painter added that while he’s disappointed that the North Texas dispute ended with a technical ruling, he’s glad that none of Godwin’s other defenses prevailed.

“Everyone in the paleontology community should know that Mongolian law is well understood, and the U.S. government will prosecute cases involving stolen fossils,” he said.

Post Conference Report of Invest Mongolia Tokyo on November 19 www.frontier.mn

The 6th Invest Mongolia Tokyo has successfully finished on November 19, 2018. The event has attracted about 20 speakers and 250 attendees and 160 organizations.

Invest Mongolia Tokyo aimed to address following opportunities, risks and concerns that have been put forward by the investment communities from Mongolia, Japan and other nations.

Through the presentations and panels, participants have gained the opportunities to understand different angles of approaches from politicians, authorities, banks, lawyers and investors. At the same time, exchanging the ideas with others during breaks and the networking events have been very stimulating for them.

The conference was well received by participants because of following reasons.

First of all, the political relations between Japan and North East Asia particularly with those with Russia and China are improving significantly in the last 12 months and therefore, the relationship with Japan and Mongolia which lies between China and Russia is becoming more and more important.

Secondly, the conference was timely because it was held at the time when Mongolia economy is picking up gradually because of the recent rise of the coal price and the financial assistance from International monetary fund (IMF) and Japan.

Thirdly, some Japanese companies, particularly the SMEs have started to enter into Mongolia.

So, participants could get the most updated perspectives of

1. The improving political situation of North East Asia and the relationship with Mongolia and Japan

2. The current economic condition in Mongolia and the vulnerability of the coal driven economy.

3. The still weak impact of EPA and the necessity to modify it to accommodate the business demands.

4. The current situation of Japanese SMEs who have started to enter into Mongolia and their challenges.

5. The update of Mongolian Stock Exchange and the possible IPO of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT).

6. The measures to improve the supply chain of Agriculture industry in Mongolia and the supports from Japan.

7. The agreements on Asian Super Grid by the leaders of the five nations (Mongolia, Japan, China, Russia and Korea ) and the opportunities for Mongolia and Japan.

8. The rapidly changing financial innovation in Mongolia and the changes of the business model of a telecom company in Mongolia.

9. The recent important legislative changes in Mongolia.

10.The proposals to the Government from Japan

11. The strong interest by Mongolian Government to improve the investment climate.

Lastly, I would like to thank the supporting organizations. The conference was supported by Government of Mongolia, National Development Agency, JICA, YAMOH and many others. Also, BD Sec and some others have supported the event. Without their commitments, the conference could not be materialized.

We want to organize the event annually and want to come back to Tokyo in November 2019. So, we welcome more active participation to the event from each of you next year.

Thank you very much for attending the conference.

Best Regard,

Masa Igata
Founder & CEO
Frontier Securities

Mongolia’s Coal Road Crisis – China’s decision leads to deaths of drivers www.news.mn

Currently, nearly 13000 coal trucks from 161 enterprises are transporting coal on the 239 km road between the giant Tavan Tolgoi mine and the Gashuun Sukhait border crossing. However, the sudden closure of the border crossings comes as an unwelcome shock for Mongolia; already 91 km long queues of coal trucks have formed since China cut imports without any prior warning. The psychological strain on the drivers is already becoming a major problem; forced to wait for days on end in their cabs in freezing weather, the truck drivers are turning alcohol and falling into chronic depression. There are already cases of tragic deaths on the “Coal Road” says the Mongolian Men’s Development Society. Members of the society have been meeting the truck drivers in person. The scale of the problem cannot be overestimated: the truck drivers support between 40-50 thousand family members. The Men’s Development Society has presented the Mongolian Cabinet with demands regarding problems of the truck drivers. If demands were not meet, non-governmental organisations will unite and to hold a hunger strike.

Daily limit for digital transaction raised www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ National Electronic Transaction Centre (NETC) of the Bank of Mongolia raised the daily limit for digital transaction to MNT 3 million, from previous limit of MNT 1 million.

Aggreko ready to power Mongolia www.aggreko.com

According to the Sustainable Energy Sector Development Strategy, approved by the Government in 2002, Mongolia set the following aims in the energy efficiency sector: sustainable development of the energy sector and power access and affordability of energy supply even in the most remote regions of the country.
“For our company, Mongolia is one of the priority regions,” - says Dominique Rachez, Managing Director for Central Asia of Aggreko Eurasia LLC. – The Mongolian economics is one of the most promising in the world. According to the forecasts of the World Bank experts, for the next few years Mongolia will be showing the economic growth by an average of 13% per year, these figures are almost double the growth rate in China. For sure the economic growth will be accompanied by rapidly increasing power demand. We provide solutions that allow industries, large cities, small communities to optimize the cost of power production where is no access to grid or connection is being delayed, in a location with limited or no access to permanent power, when businesses require cooling or heating to run their production smoothly and efficiently. 
In recent years, Mongolian Government has been paying great attention to the development of renewable energy sector. The territory, low population density and renewable energy sources - all of these facts create a great potential for this sector. In such rapidly changing conditions, Aggreko Eurasia LLC keeps up to date, looking to the future, the company is now able to offer customers scalable power solutions based on a number of technologies, including: renewable energy sources as sources of power supply, hybrid technologies, such as mobile modular solar panels, battery storage and a fleet of generators as they run on eco-friendly gas fuel, natural gas, heavy fuel and hybrid options.
The business model of Aggreko Eurasia LLC is rental that means there is no CAPEX required from the customer’s side and power increase or decrease is very flexible due to the modular construction of Aggreko’s equipment. The generators are designed and produced in Scotland to the highest European standards, developed and built for rental-specific applications in the toughest environments on earth, manufactured in Aggreko’s ISO-accredited facility ISO 0900:2008 and is equipped with remote monitoring to aid in performance and reliability.
Aggreko Eurasia LLC operates as a subsidiary of Aggreko plc at the territory of Eurasia from 2008. The company provides temporary power, temperature control, and compressed air systems on rent. The company provides project design planning, installation, commissioning, process enhancement and operating services, and on-site service and maintenance support services. It serves manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, agricultural, construction and major event industries. The total capacity of provided power exceeds 700 MVA at the territory of Eurasia in 2017.
Among successfully operated and performed projects of Aggreko Eurasia LLC are power supply for Rosneft, Gazpromneft, Lukoil, Slavneft, EVRAZ Group, Antipinsky Oil Refinery, Heidelberg Cement, Pilkington Glass, BP Exploration Limited. 
“To learn more about Aggreko products and services please visit their website www.aggreko.com or contact them at Mongolia@aggreko.com or reach us via phone numbers +976 8059-9852 and +7 916 599 85 27”

BoM raises interest rate to 11 percent following IMF mission www.zgm.mn

Yesterday, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) held an irregular meeting almost a month before schedule and decided to increase the interest rate by 1 percent, to 11 percent. Analysts highlighted that the sudden change in interest rate was driven by external factors and suggestions of International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission.

Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi IPO introduced internationally www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Representatives of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (ETT) JSC attended the 7th MINEX Eurasia Mining and Investment Forum that took place in London.

National Innovation Prize presented www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The National Innovation Prize was awarded to VetBioTech start-up and ITools companies in recognition of their contributions to the social and economic development of Mongolia, meeting world standards and improving competitiveness of the country.

Alibaba's Jack Ma is a Communist Party member, China state paper reveals www.reuters.com

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Jack Ma, the head of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and China’s best-known capitalist, is a Communist Party member, the official Party newspaper said on Monday, debunking a public assumption the billionaire was politically unattached.

China defends holding fugitive businessman's US children www.bbc.com

Chinese officials have defended their decision to bar three US citizens from leaving the country, saying they are suspected of "economic crimes".

Victor and Cynthia Liu, children of a fugitive businessman, and their mother, Sandra Han, have been detained since June, the New York Times reported.

The US Department of State confirmed to the BBC that they are in "close contact" with the adult Liu children.

Their father, Liu Changming, is wanted in a $1.4bn (£1bn) fraud case in China.

"As we understand it from the relevant authorities, these people you have mentioned all have legal and valid identity documents as Chinese citizens," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters at a news conference, according to the Agence France-Presse.

"They are suspected of having committed economic crimes and have been restricted from leaving China by Chinese police."

The risks of dual citizenship
Analysis by Zhaoyin Feng, US Correspondent, BBC Chinese Service

Beijing has shown that it doesn't shy away from prosecuting dual citizenship holders and foreign passport holders with Chinese roots.

Lee Bo, a Hong Kong bookseller who also holds a British passport, was "first and foremost a Chinese citizen" when they detained him, according to China's foreign minister Wang Yi in 2016.

The Chinese police also held Lee's business partner, Chinese-born Swedish bookseller Gui Minhai. Gui and Lee had published books critical of the government.

China does not recognise dual citizenship, but it is relatively common for Chinese people to obtain foreign nationality without renouncing their Chinese citizenship.

The covert dual citizenship holders hold on to their Chinese identity cards and passports for various reasons ranging from getting access to Chinese welfare benefits to entering China conveniently.

Hong Kong passport holders can legally hold dual nationality, but in mainland China, Hong Kong citizens who have foreign passports are considered Chinese citizens, according to Chinese laws.

It is also worth noting that the Chinese foreign ministry's comment regarding Victor and Cynthia Liu's case was excluded from the daily press briefing transcript published on the ministry's website.

Questions considered sensitive to the Chinese government are sometimes omitted in the public transcripts, as a way for Beijing to downplay the issues and to limit the information spread out on domestic media platforms, which re-post the ministry's briefing transcripts.

A US Department of State official told the BBC in an emailed statement that they are "in close contact" with Mr and Ms Liu and are providing "all appropriate consular services".

While exit bans have often been imposed on Chinese-born foreigners, in this instance, Mr Liu is US-born. All three family members reportedly entered China on American passports.

Mr Liu, 19, and Ms Liu, 27, travelled with their mother to a tropical Chinese island this summer to visit their grandfather, according to the Times.

Days later, their mother - who is a Chinese-born US citizen - was detained by Chinese officials and allegedly taken to a "black jail" - a secretive detention centre.

Mr and Ms Liu have reportedly tried to leave the country three times and have been staying with an uncle.

They told the newspaper they are being held in order to lure their father, a former state-owned bank executive, back to face criminal fraud charges, though he reportedly cut ties with the family in 2012.

According to the China Daily paper, Mr Changming is one of the country's 100 most-wanted fugitives facing arrest for alleged corrupt practices. He fled China in 2007.

Ms Liu wrote to National Security Adviser John Bolton in August, saying her family was being held as "a crude form of human collateral" to bait someone they have no contact with, the Times reported.

In January, the US Department of State issued a travel advisory regarding exit bans in China, warning that they have been imposed "to compel US citizens to resolve business disputes, force settlement of court orders or facilitate government investigations".

"Individuals not involved in legal proceedings or suspected of wrongdoing have also been subjected to lengthy exit bans in order to compel their family members or colleagues to co-operate with Chinese courts or investigators."

Dual-citizenship is not allowed under Chinese law, and US officials cautioned that US-Chinese nationals can be detained and denied US assistance in the country.

Ms Han is a businesswoman with millions of dollars in real estate holdings, the Times reported, and Ms Liu is a consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Mr Liu is currently a sophomore at Georgetown University.