(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Investigations into numerous land deals surrounding a major U.S. Air Force base in California revealed that tech billionaires bought up millions of dollars worth of farmland and planned to turn it into a utopia-like city.
The investors bought much of the land, located in Solano County, far above market price, under a firm named Flannery Associates. Big-name tech investors such as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, investors Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, venture capitalist Michael Moritz and several others became involved in the scheme.
Jan Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs stock trader, originally pitched the idea to build a walkable metropolis with thousands of jobs and opportunities for innovating within the tech industry, the New York Times reported.
All of the elites involved in the scheme remained anonymous, working under a firm called Flannery Associates. Recently, government officials caught wind of the plans and launched several investigations.
The Air Force, Department of Agriculture and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States all opened separate investigations into the operation, the Daily Caller reported.
Many of the groups assumed that Flannery was a cover to launch new wind farms, a new port or allow increased Chinese influence in the United States.
Reps. John Garamendi and Mike Thompson, D-Calif., attempted to discover the company’s intent after Solano locals reported multiple sales to Flannery.
“We got the F.B.I. and Treasury involved,” Garamendi said. “I couldn’t find out anything.”
Flannery claimed it was “owned by a group of families looking to diversify their portfolio from equities into real assets, including agricultural land in the western United States.” Since the more potentially nefarious motive was unearthed, the schemers have tried to spin damage control and keep their plans on track.
The conglomerate of tech moguls and investors has hired political consultants to deal with conflicts that might arise as it seeks to break ground on new development, the Times reported.
Since the Solano County residents became aware of Flannery’s plan, the organization must get permission from the locals in order to install their utopia.
“We are excited to start working with Solano County residents and elected officials, as well as with Travis Air Force Base,” a spokesperson for Flannery said.
