Bloomberg gets to the bottom of hoax

Back in April, the New York Times speculated that Bloomberg News had been the victim of a hoax when it wrote a story about a reclusive investor who was making an offer to purchase a South African mining company.

This weekend, a Bloomberg story by David Dietz, David Glovin and Christopher Donville uncovered the man behind the hoax. It’s an excellent story that leaves no stone unturned.

The three wrote, “Niren wouldn’t comment on July 31 when he returned a call made to his California phone number. In ensuing calls, he offered an interview with himself and Pastorini in his attorney’s office in Argentina, provided some of his legal fees were paid. He also threatened to sue Bloomberg if reporters kept contacting his friends and family members and those of Pastorini.

“In an Aug. 8 e-mail, Niren said his clients included ‘tons of mining companies, leverage buyout firms and raiders.’ He said he could produce ‘wires and checks and contracts and letters from dozens of former clients.’

“‘You want the whole truth, then pay for it,’ he wrote.

“Later he sent another e-mail mocking media reports about him and the SEC complaint: ‘I am Theodore Roxford, I am Lawrence Niren, I am Elvis, I am Edward Pastorini, I am Spartacus, I am Humpty Dumpty, I am Theodore Vakil. And the hits just keep on coming.”’

Read more here.