CITY WHISPERS: Dr No’s firm in rebrand after Hindenburg disaster

Readers may remember the colorful saga of Enochian Biosciences. In 2022, short seller Hindenburg Research revealed that the US pharmaceutical company’s chief scientific advisor, Serhat Gumrukcu, had been arrested for his alleged role in a murder-for-hire plot.

Hindenburg also revealed that Gumrukcu had worked as a magician in Turkey under the stage name ‘Dr No’.

It was an embarrassing moment for the company, which later discovered that he had falsified clinical data, accusing him of “blatant fraud.”

Enochian’s management is now trying to reinvent the company under a new name, Renovaro Biosciences.

But Hindenburg caught wind of the change and published a report accusing Renovaro boss Mark Dybul, who once praised Gumrukcu as a “rare genius,” of trying to pull off “the same brazen scam under a new name.”

And an American law firm intends to file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of disgruntled investors. More curse than magic spell!

Switzerland avoids inflation nightmare

No doubt buyers, politicians and central bankers will want to be in Switzerland. Not because of a love of fondue or cuckoo clocks, but because the Alpine nation has avoided the nightmare of inflation.

Price increases peaked at just 3.5 percent in August 2022.

Analysts at Capital Economics predict that the neutrality-obsessed Swiss will have seen inflation fall to 1.2 percent last month.

They expect the central bank in Bern to reduce the base rate to 1.5 percent.

The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, will surely look at it with envy. Markets predict the UK will not cut rates for another five months.

Gottverdammt!

Kebab man seeks seat in Parliament

Ibrahim Dogus, founder of the British Kebab Awards, took to the stage at the 12th annual shindig last week to protest against unpopular VAT and business rates being levied on hospitality businesses.

London mayor Sadiq Khan and former Conservative chancellor Nadhim Zahawi were among those present.

Dogus, a Labor councillor, is said to be seeking a seat in Parliament. Maybe polishing his credentials?

Company predicts unexpected profits due to Post Office affair

It was another bleak week for the Post Office as the Horizon IT scandal hit the headlines again.

The debacle ruined the lives of many subpostmasters and destroyed the reputations of Postal executives and Fujitsu, the architect of the system.

But one company predicts that the affair will bring unexpected profits.

In its half-year results on Monday, AIM-listed Made Tech said it would benefit “smaller, more agile” companies as “negative sentiment” towards larger suppliers saw their customers defect.

The software company’s profits quadrupled to £1.3m in the six months to November, so it may have been onto something.

Contributor: John Abiona