Cordova Group is a conglomerate owned by billionaire Kingsley Cordova. It ran the Mars Tribune and many other small companies throughout the Sol system.[1] After its involvement in the illegal surveillance of private citizens were exposed, the Cordova Group was subjected to a government audit, and the Mars Tribune was closed and dissolved.
Timeline[]
22 NOV 3304
- The Mars Tribune has been closed and its owner arrested in the wake of the spy robot scandal. The announcement was made by Detective Captain Ramesh Thorne, who was recently reinstated to, and promoted by, the Federal Security Service: "Kingsley Cordova, editor Lana Sigrid and other employees of The Mars Tribune have been arrested for blackmail and corruption. The newsfeed has been permanently dissolved, and the Cordova Group conglomerate subjected to a government audit. I would like to thank the anonymous whistle-blower who exposed Cordova's scheme. She has now removed the surveillance program from all Achilles Corporation PA912 robots in exchange for immunity from prosecution." Chief Editor Lena Ravenhill wrote in The Federal Times: "The Mars Tribune abandoned its professional ethics in its hunt for salacious headlines, thereby undermining the role of honest journalism in our society. We are relieved to see justice done."[2]
15 NOV 3304
- The Federal Times has revealed a connection between the Cordova Group and the spy robots scandal. Chief Editor Lena Ravenhill wrote: "Ramesh Thorne's recent appeal elicited a response from an anonymous whistle-blower – a robotics engineer employed by the Achilles Corporation who helped design the robots at the heart of these events. The engineer has attested that she was blackmailed by Kingsley Cordova, owner of the Mars Tribune, into installing surveillance programs on robots belonging to well-known people in the Sol system. The accumulated data was relayed to the Cordova Group, which published it in The Mars Tribune." A spokesperson for the Achilles Corporation said: "The engineer has provided us with a 'kill switch' that remotely deletes the spy program she designed. This coreware update has now been transmitted to all PA912 model robots. We can therefore assure our customers that there is no longer any risk of their private information being misused."[3]
25 OCT 3304
- As the Federal Security Service continues its investigation into The Mars Tribune for illegally obtaining the private information of Federal citizens, the newsfeed's parent company, the Cordova Group, has filed a formal complaint. The FSS has established that the administration robots of dozens of public figures and wealthy individuals have been fitted with hidden surveillance programs, and that these programs may be the source of several scandals exposed, exclusively, by The Mars Tribune. Kingsley Cordova, billionaire owner of The Mars Tribune, addressed the situation in an editorial: "These accusations are an insult to our journalistic integrity. Are we to be punished for uncovering liars and criminals? Our readers have always been grateful to us for shining a light into Sol’s murky corners. I suggest that the FSS treads more cautiously. These robots apparently have access to very sensitive data. Imagine if they publicly broadcasted everything they'd learned about their owners."[4]
20 OCT 3304
- The Federal Security Service has targeted The Mars Tribune as part of its investigation into robots carrying concealed surveillance programs. Lieutenant Inspector Ramesh Thorne made this statement: "The personal robots of former congressman Morgan Unwin and actor Tomas Turai were found to contain surveillance programs. In recent weeks, both were the subject of incriminating articles published exclusively in The Mars Tribune. Public-relations guru Anya Blackriver, also the owner of a 'spy' robot, was recently exposed by the Tribune for concealing various scandals on behalf of her celebrity clients. In fact, all the owners of affected robots live in the Sol system, which is the focus of the Tribune's journalism. We are therefore interviewing Tribune staff to establish if they used these robots to gather private data in order to obtain material for exclusive stories." Legal representatives of the Cordova Group, the conglomerate that owns The Mars Tribune, have challenged the FSS for making 'libellous and baseless accusations'.[5]
23 AUG 3304
- The Mars Tribune reveals Congressman Morgan Unwin's criminal ties to the Red Family cartel in an exclusive exposé: "Congressman Morgan Unwin has been in debt to the notorious Red Family cartel for nearly a decade. Information uncovered by our reporters proves that he has used his influence to traffic enormous quantities of the cartel's drugs in order to keep his own addiction secret." He was arrested by the Federal Security Service and faces expulsion from Federal Congress. To express their thanks for the Mars Tribune's investigative work, Congress invited billionaire Kingsley Cordova, owner of the Cordova Group conglomerate that runs the Tribune, to a special event.[1]