The company said Cotten, 30, had been nine days into his honeymoon in India, where he planned to open an orphanage, when he collapsed due to complications of Crohn’s disease.

But soon the words of support and sympathy were replaced by panicked messages from investors: Where was their money?

As it turned out, only Cotten knew the passwords to the digital wallets where cryptocurrency was stored, meaning that more than 100,000 users were unable to access at least $145 million in assets, according to Bloomberg News. As months passed and the money failed to materialize, a conspiracy theory emerged: Cotten had faked his own death and disappeared.

Now attorneys for QuadrigaCX’s investors are asking that Cotten’s body be exhumed, so that they can settle the question of whether he is really dead.

A Friday letter from Miller Thomson LLP, the Toronto firm appointed to represent QuadrigaCX users, requests that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police also conduct an autopsy on Cotten’s body, “to confirm both its identity and the cause of death.” Citing the “questionable circumstances” surrounding Cotten’s sudden passing, the attorneys note “the need for certainty around the question of whether Mr. Cotten is in fact deceased.”

As Vanity Fair reported, QuadrigaCX initially attracted users because it seemed less risky than other bitcoin trading platforms. It had been licensed by FinTRAC, the Canadian anti-money-laundering task force, and Cotten often told reporters that the fact that the exchange was based in Canada meant that investors “know where their money is going.”

But the Facebook post announcing Cotten’s death raised questions, as The Washington Post reported. Though he died in December 2018, according to his widow, it took more than a month for the cryptocurrency exchange to reveal that he had passed away. When the company finally made it public and users scrambled to withdraw their money, QuadrigaCX’s website went dark.

The company used a “cold wallet” system where cryptocurrency like bitcoin and ethereum was stored offline to protect it from hackers, and Cotten was the only person with the ability to transfer users’ money back into a “hot wallet” where they could access it. In February, when QuadrigaCX filed for creditor protection, the company said that it had been unable to unlock the “cold wallets,” leaving millions in limbo.

“The laptop computer from which Gerry carried out the companies’ business is encrypted and I do not know the password or recovery key,” Cotten’s widow, Jennifer Robertson, said in court filings, according to the Guardian. “Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them written down anywhere.”

Many customers became convinced that they were not simply unlucky, but instead were the victims of a sinister scheme. As online sleuths pointed out, $25 million of QuadrigaCX’s assets were frozen in early 2018, after authorities found “irregularities” in the company’s payment processes. Just days before Cotten died, however, the funds were returned to the company.

Investors started to question “the authenticity of the formal documents in a country notorious for the ease at which falsified documents can be purchased, particularly after they learned that the death certificate misspelled Cotten’s name, and that the former chairman and managing director of the company that ran the hospital had been convicted of financial fraud two months earlier,” Vanity Fair reported. Just four days before the trip, the magazine noted, Cotten had written a will.

No evidence has emerged to prove that Cotten’s death was faked. In February, his widow, who provided Canadian authorities with a copy of his death certificate, called the rumors “slanderous.”

But in recent months, the FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police have launched investigations into investors’ missing funds. Meanwhile, in April, QuadrigaCX began bankruptcy proceedings in Canada, and the accounting firm Ernst & Young was tasked with investigating the company’s finances and tracking down the millions that disappeared.

So far, auditors have recovered only about $33 million in Canadian dollars, the equivalent of more than $25 million in the United States. Nearly all of that money was cash, and the millions in cryptocurrency remain elusive. What the auditors did uncover, according to a June report, was evidence that funds invested in QuadrigaCX “may have been used inappropriately.”

Cotten, who appears to have overstated the company’s revenue, according to the auditors, reportedly juiced the volume of trades on the platform by creating fake accounts and using them to trade counterfeit bitcoin for real cash and cryptocurrency. He was the only one directing what happened to money that users converted into cryptocurrency, but had kept no records whatsoever since 2016.

Often, the accountants found, Cotten transferred investors’ funds into his own accounts, or used them to “fund personal assets.” He made risky trades on other cryptocurrency exchanges, and the losses began adding up. The firm’s blockchain analysts located some of QuadrigaCX’s cold wallets, only to discover that most of them were empty.

The auditors also found that Cotten and his wife used QuadrigaCX to fund a jet-setting lifestyle, buying 16 properties in Nova Scotia, a Cessna 400 plane and a yacht. According to the Globe and Mail, Robertson has said that she was unaware of her husband’s questionable financial dealings, and agreed to transfer the majority of her assets to Ernst & Young so that they can be liquidated.

The ongoing investigations have been complicated by the complex, highly technical nature of cryptocurrency. One expert who was interviewed by the RCMP told Vanity Fair that he had been shocked by the investigators’ unfamiliarity with bitcoin, and felt the case was “completely out of their wheelhouse.” And after Ernst & Young took control of QuadrigaCX’s finances, the auditors “inadvertently” transferred bitcoin valued at nearly half a million in Canadian dollars to cold wallets that no one could access.

Reporters, meanwhile, have found that Cotten had a history of questionable financial dealings, dating to when he was a 15-year-old computer whiz living in suburban Ontario. The teenager launched a site that was effectively “a bizarre cross between a Ponzi scheme and online gambling,” the Globe and Mail reported, only to shut it down as investors began clamoring for their money back. He later claimed to have refunded a significant portion.

Indian authorities maintain that Cotten, whose body was repatriated to Nova Scotia for a small closed-casket funeral, died on Dec. 9, 2018, shortly after checking into a luxury hotel in Jaipur and complaining of stomach pains. He was taken to a private hospital and initially appeared to have traveler’s diarrhea, officials told the Globe and Mail. But the next day, his condition took a turn for the worse, and he went into cardiac arrest.

Medical experts told the Globe and Mail that while dying from Crohn’s disease is extremely rare, it was possible that Cotten could have suffered from a perforated bowel and gone into septic shock. But the gastroenterologist who treated Cotten in India told the paper that no autopsy was completed, and he was “not at all” certain about what had happened.

Attorneys for QuadrigaCX’s customers have asked that Cotten’s body be exhumed before spring 2020, “given decomposition concerns.” The request appears likely to spark a legal battle, as Robertson, his widow, told Canadian media outlets in a statement through her attorney that she was “heartbroken” by the possibility and that her husband’s death “should not be in doubt.”

“It is not clear how the exhumation or an autopsy to confirm the cause of Gerry’s death from complications arising from his Crohn’s disease would assist the asset recovery process further,” she wrote.

The two companies announced the groundbreaking partnership at a press conference, held in Kuala Lumpur today (December 16).

RedRecords will focus on discovering and developing talent from Southeast Asia and throughout the wider continent and form a clear and unique sound that reflects the diverse and rich musical culture of the continent.

RedRecords will be based in Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles and will combine UMG’s industry-leading track record in artist development with AirAsia’s regional and global marketing strength to expand A-Pop’s reach beyond national borders and languages to reach audiences around the world.

In addition to artist development and A&R, the label will provide distribution and marketing, as well as management and agency services. The label will be led by Hassan Choudhury, head of Music for AirAsia Group, who will take on the role of CEO of RedRecords.

Speaking on the announcement, Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia Group said: “This announcement is incredibly important to me. It appears life has come full circle for both myself and my AirAsia brothers, Kamarudin and Nadda, whom I met through our early days in music”.

“We have already revolutionised air travel enabling everyone to fly and as we celebrate 18 years of operation for AirAsia – we are focused on transforming the airline into a global digital travel and lifestyle leader. Now we are also heading back to our musical roots to revolutionise the future of Asian pop culture and give it the world wide stage it deserves in conjunction with Universal Music to launch RedRecords”.

Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group said: “I am delighted to announce the launch of RedRecords with Tony and his team at AirAsia. The worldwide success of Latin and K-Pop has demonstrated that in the streaming era there are no barriers to great music regardless of language. Together with the combined strategic marketing reach and resources of AirAsia and UMG, we can provide Asian artists an exciting opportunity to truly go global”.

Adam Granite, EVP/Market Development of Universal Music Group said: “We are excited to officially launch RedRecords today with AirAsia. Together we share a commitment to the long-term development and transformation of the music ecosystem within the region. A region filled with new talent that has the potential to reach almost 700 million people across Southeast Asia alone and where music is increasingly driven by a young, social and mobile-driven audience. Together we are confident that the team at RedRecords will help introduce A-pop to a new global audience, ready to embrace new talent from throughout Asia”.

Hassan Choudhury, Head of Music for AirAsia Group and CEO of RedRecords said: “This is an excellent opportunity to leverage both AirAsia and UMG’s potential in a musical journey. Having worked for both of these incredible companies, witnessing first hand their enormous strengths in their respective industries, I aim to bring the creative forces of both teams together in order to help develop the undoubted music talent that lays here in Asia.”

Marquee first signing.

At the press conference, the label announced the signing of Thai pop-artist and influencer Jannine Weigel, as its marquee first artist. Weigel, a singer, songwriter, influencer, gamer and actor has released several singles and EPs and amassed a huge following on social media, with more than 600 million views and 3.3 million followers on YouTube, in addition to 3.2 million followers on Facebook, 1.5 million on Instagram and more than 500,000 on TikTok.

On signing to RedRecords, Jannine Weigel said, “I’m so proud to be the first artist to join RedRecords and to have the support of this amazing team, which will help take my career to even greater heights. My fans are going to love all the incredible experiences that we have in store for them. I cannot wait for you to hear my new music.”

Earlier this year, UMG announced a strategic expansion of operations within the region with the launch of a new regional headquarters in Singapore.

UMG is committed to growing the entire music ecosystem throughout Southeast Asia, extending its focus and commitment to local language and domestic repertoire in order to provide music fans with the best music experience throughout the region

The bank will transfer the money only to their accounts, which are tied to its GHB All mobile application. The money transfer to the first group of clients will begin this month.

Bank president Chatchai Sirilai said the campaign serves the Finance Ministry’s policy of encouraging clients to have good repayment discipline and boost their purchasing power.

The eligible clients are those who borrowed not more than Bt1 million from the GHB for the first time and whose borrowing has never been considered a non-performing loan.

They should also have a good record of debt repayment in the past 48 months, with the full instalment being paid to the bank by the due date each time. Each eligible client will also need to repay his/her December loan instalment within this month.

They will have to show up at any of the bank’s branches nationwide to verify their identity and avail of the gift.

There are around 170,000 clients deemed eligible.

The new service is aimed at shortening the claim process and enhance convenience for its policyholders.

Customers who submit documents through LINE will receive feedback within two working days, while it normally takes up to five working days through other channels such as agents.

FWD is the first life insurance company in Thailand to allow customers to submit their medical claim reimbursement documents through LINE.

Once a customer has confirmed his/her transaction via LINE and provided the email used to register, they can claim up to Bt5,000 in medical reimbursement for up to five times per calendar year.

Currently, FWD Claim Submission on LINE supports claim reimbursement for out-patient (OPD) treatment of personal accidents and health insurance customers.

Policyholders can register for FWD Claim Submission on LINE through the official FWD Thailand LINE account.

They can also find out more about FWD’s products and services through the official FWD Thailand LINE account, as well as paying for insurance premiums via LINE Pay.

Apirak Chitranondh, Chief Technology and Operations officer of FWD life Insurance Plc, said, “FWD is committed to delivering the best possible customer experience and changing the way people feel about insurance. That’s why we develop innovative products and services with our customers’ interests in mind. We know that customers in a digitally-connected world need services that are quick, user-friendly, secure, and convenient, which were key ideas behind this launch.”

Thailand currently has 44 million LINE application fans and FWD Thailand official LINE account has 10.89 million registered customers.

PTTEP president and chief executive officer Phongsthorn Thavisin said the company has set aside approximately Bt143 billion ($4.61 billion) for PTTEP and its subsidiaries in 2020, of which Bt82 billion is capital expenditure and Bt60.94 billion operating expenditure.

The company is allocating Bt716.2 billion under its five-year investment plan running from 2020 to 2024.

The expected compound annual growth rate during the 2020-2024 period of average petroleum sales from existing assets is around 6 per cent.

“Based on the investment plan in 2020, PTTEP expects an increase of 11 per cent of total petroleum sales compared to this year’s target,” Phongsthorn said.

The growth is the result of its Expand strategy, which includes acquisitions in Thailand, Malaysia and the Middle East.

“Most of the 2020 investment budget will be allocated to pursue its Execute strategy in order to maintain production volumes and concentrate on key development projects, besides accelerating exploration activities to add to future reserves and for the sustainable growth of PTTEP,” Phongsthorn said.

PTTEP in 2020 will focus on “maintaining its production plateau of existing projects, increase future petroleum production volumes from major development projects in Malaysia, Mozambique and Algeria, and accelerate exploration activities mainly in Malaysia and Myanmar, to enhance contingent resources for supporting long-term growth”.

The company is also focusing on innovation and technology development to support petroleum exploration, development and production activities.

PTTEP subsidiary AI and Robotics Ventures Limited (ARV) has been able to commercially launch services for both the petroleum exploration and production (E&P) industry and the non-E&P industry by employing inspection drones, swarm drones, and an Observation-class Autonomous Underwater Vehicle.

In 2020, ARV will develop robotics for commercial use, such as the Inspection-class Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, the Subsea Flowline Control and Repair Robot and the In-pipe Inspection Robot. ARV plans more than 30 development projects for upcoming years.

He expected Taiwan to invite bids next year for Phase 3 development of the wind power to generate 3,000 megawatts.

EA is closely monitoring the project, he added..

He said Taiwan was a country with high potentail in wind power generation.

Besides Taiwan, the company has also conducted a feasibility study on investing in a hydropower project with capacity between 100MW-200MW in Laos, he added.

She expects the bank to be awarded at least one of these licences next year.

There is a high chance that the bank will obtain the licence from either Indonesia or Vietnam, she added.

Currently KBank has combined branches and representative offices in 16 countries.

It was the final approval Amazon needed to begin building its second headquarters, known as HQ2, in Arlington County, and it came after a four-hour hearing where the only friction was provided by about 100 union carpenters and building trade workers upset by what they said was payroll fraud on the part of contractors and subcontractors working on the company’s temporary headquarters.

HQ2 is expected to be completed by 2023 and could transform the predominantly high-rise residential and low-rise warehouse district into anew center of urban life just across Interstate 395 from the Pentagon.

The 2-million-square-foot headquarters, at the parcel containing 1400 S. Eads St. and 501 15th St. South, will house about 12,500 employees – half the expected 25,000 Amazon employees who will eventually work in the area. Hundreds of employees are already working in leased offices around Crystal City, and another Amazon headquarters building in the neighborhood is working its way through the planning process, most likely to come up for approval next year. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Negotiations between the county and the company for the Eads and 15th Street locations, called Metropolitan Park, were necessary because the site had been zoned for residential use, and Amazon sought to add about 590,000 square feet of density to 1.56 million square feet that was already permitted.

The $20 million commitment for affordable housing is the largest single infusion of money into Arlington’s housing fund.

Amazon also promised to open a new 160-slot day-care facility for use by both employees and other Arlington residents on a first-come, first-served basis; spend about $14 million to expand an existing public park tucked between high-rises into a two-acre public plaza and to pay for its maintenance in perpetuity; create two highly energy efficient structures that will be 100 percent powered by renewable energy by 2030; build two new protected bike lanes; devote its 69,545 square feet of ground-floor space to a “curated” selection of retail shops; and provide a 700-person indoor event space available for county-sanctioned events at least four times a year. An underground garage will have 1,933 spaces and workers will be encouraged to use mass transit, company-provided van pools, bikes and scooters – or walk to work. Additional transit and transportation improvements in the area were also promised.

The outcome of the board’s vote was never really in doubt, because Arlington officials and most residents welcomed the company’s announcement 13 months ago that it had selected the area including Pentagon City, Crystal City and Potomac Yard as the home for HQ2.

But union carpenters filled the hearing room to protest, alleging payroll fraud and misclassification of workers who are renovating existing structures for Amazon’s temporary quarters.

Amazon promised earlier this week to require that contractors and subcontractors working on its headquarters pay the same local prevailing wages to laborers and mechanics they would have to pay if it were a federal contract in excess of $2,000. The company also said that contractors and subcontractors could not employ independent contractors without Amazon’s approval, and that they would be subject to oversight by a third-party labor compliance firm.

Stephen Courtien, executive director of the Baltimore-District of Columbia Building Trades union, said the proposal is “a good idea, but nothing they discussed is very innovative. It comes down to the contractor and he’s self-reporting. They’re not going to know who’s on the job, off the books.”

County Board members, several of whom have been supported by unions, urged the company to pay close attention to the problem, and decried the fact that they cannot require a project labor agreement on major construction projects, due to Virginia’s policy of reserving all such decisions to the General Assembly. At least one bill submitted for the 2020 legislative session would rectify that; State Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, announced Friday night that his proposal would allow three Northern Virginia local governments to make such changes.

“A company that is built on innovation should not be used by low-road actors that use tired, old-school tactics [to hurt workers],” said County Board Chair Christian Dorsey, after praising the plans for its architecture, energy-saving plans and community benefits. The affordable housing contribution, given in exchange for higher density, is “substantial,” he said. “It’s not all the way there, but it’s much better than where we started.”

John Schoettler, Amazon’s global vice president of real estate and facilities, said as soon as he became aware of the labor abuses, he fired the general contractor and subcontractors involved and will not hire them again.

“This is absolutely not acceptable to us whatsoever,” he told the five-member County Board, which is entirely composed of Democrats. “I’ve made it abundantly clear that I will tolerate absolutely none of this going forward and people on my team will be held accountable.”

Saturday’s meeting was in stark contrast to a rowdy March 16 hearing, in which protesters shouted “shame” and forced the County Board to twice leave the room before it approved $23 million in incentives to the company. This time, just 20 people spoke, about one-fifth of the number from last spring, and the four hours that the board spent on the project was lightning speed for an Arlington site plan of this magnitude.

Many of Arlington’s citizen advisory boards and the nearby civic organizations lined up behind the proposal with minor caveats. Both the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and a 3-month-old Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance, which represents 10 agencies that seek to promote the region, offered its strong support. That group said the Amazon development will result in more than 47,000 new direct and indirect jobs whose benefits will be felt across Virginia.

After the meeting, Schoettler said, “the community was awesome and helped us improve our plans.” He called the labor abuse “very unfortunate, but we took decisive and swift action. We intend to lead by example.”

He added thatthe deal, which was announced on December 12, will help expand BBL’s growth in the long-term.

BBL share price on Friday plunged 6.19 per cent to close at Bt151.50, given that some stock investors are doubtful the deal can create seamless synergy between the two banks to boost BBL growth, especially in the digital banking domain.

He added that when the stock investors gain more and more information of the deal, they will see its long-term benefit and gain more confidence in the deal.

He reiterated that the price BBL will pay for Pertama’s shares is not too high and there is still ample room for growth in Indonesia.

BBL announced on December 12 its entry into a conditional share purchase agreement with Standard Chartered Bank (Standard Chartered) and PT Astra International Tbk (Astra) to acquire their aggregate 89.12 per cent shareholding in Permata.

BBL said that the acquisition of Permata underlines its commitment to Indonesia, having been present here since 1968, and will further strengthen its position as a regional player with strong positioning in Thailand and Indonesia, the two largest markets in Asean.

According to its filingto the Stock Exchange of Thailand on December 13, the board of directors on December 12 resolved to propose for the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders’ consideration approval of a decrease of registered capital from the existing Bt3.408 billion to more Bt3.309 billion by decreasing the number of ordinary shares, which have not been sold. These amount to 99,030,527 shares at the par value of Bt1 per share.

It also resolved to propose consideration of an increase in registered capital of slightly more than Bt888 million from the existing registered capital of Bt3.309 billion to more than Bt4.197 billion at the par value of Bt1 per share.

This will be done by issuing 888,147,358 ordinary shares at the par value of Bt1 per share.

Other items to be proposed for the consideration of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders including approving the allocation of the newly issued ordinary shares to the existing shareholders proportionate to their respective shareholdings (Rights offering) with the allocation ratio of 3.5 existing shares to 1 newly issued ordinary share, at the offering price at Bt2.50 per share. Total value would not exceed Bt2.220 billion and the offer period would run from February 3 to 7.

The Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders will be held on January 14.

The company plans to utilize proceeds received from the capital increase for working capital, reducing indebtedness, improving its fleet, as well as expanding air routes and aviation network to make it more competitive.