🐄💩 Man Sentenced fo’ $9 Million Cow Manure Ponzi Scheme 📰💰
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One man from California stay gettin’ sent to prison fo’ mo’ than six years aftah runnin’ one $8.75 million Ponzi scheme wea he tell people he stay buildin’ machines fo’ convert cow manure into biogas, according to federal prosecutors. 😱🔒
Raymond Brewer, age 66, from Porterville, Calif., get sentenced on Monday fo’ runnin’ one scheme wea he falsely claim fo’ be one engineer runnin’ one company dat build anaerobic digestion plants fo’ convert manure into biogas, according to da United States attorney’s office fo’ da Eastern District of California. 🛠️🏭🌱
Mr. Brewer been tellin’ his investors dat he stay buildin’ da plants an’ goin’ make millions of dollars by sellin’ da biogas, an’ he promise da investors two-thirds of da profits as well as tax incentives. 💰💸🤝
Da U.S. attorney fo’ da Eastern District of California, Phillip A. Talbert, say dat none of dis was true. Mr. Brewer nevah start buildin’ one single digester. He jus’ take da investors’ money an’ run. 💔💼🏃♂️
Mr. Brewer, wea plead guilty to fraud charges in February, spend da money on one 3,700-square-foot custom home in California, one 12-acre piece of land in Montana, an’ new Dodge Ram pickup trucks, say federal prosecutors. 🏠🌳🚚
Anaerobic digesters use bacteria fo’ break down organic material an’ make gas, wea mainly consist of methane an’ carbon dioxide. Places like New York City an’ oddah parts of da world use dis process fo’ handle sewage, food scraps, an’ farm waste, an’ make renewable natural gas. 🌍🚽🌽🍂
According to federal indictment, Mr. Brewer’s scheme fo’ pretendin’ he runnin’ dis kind process start in 2014. He mainly operate tings through one Wyoming corporation wea da main business happen in California. Da company name CH4 Power, which come from da chemical formula fo’ methane. 💼🧪🔬
Mr. Brewer go all out fo’ convince da investors dat his manure project stay real, say Mr. Talbert. He take dem on tours of dairies wea he say he goin’ build digesters, an’ he show dem fake lease agreements dat he say he make wit dairy owners all ova California. He even get stock photographs of digesters an’ send ’em to investors, an’ sometimes he change da images fo’ make ’em look like construction happening. He even make one detailed schedule fo’ da project fo’ show progress, say court documents. 🏢🚜📸📅
Aftah gettin’ money from da investors, Mr. Brewer try fo’ hide ’em by transfer ’em to oddah bank accounts he open in da names of oddah business entities, family members, an’ even one fake name, say Mr. Talbert. 💳📊🚫
In 2019, Mr. Brewer’s scheme start fall apart when some of his investors find out dat he issuin’ refunds wit money he get from oddah investors, even though da investors nevah give him permission fo’ use da money like dat.
According to Mr. Talbert, da investors get multiple civil judgments against Mr. Brewer in 2019. Mr. Brewer respond by shut down CH4 Power, put his remainin’ assets in his wife’s name, get one fraudulent business loan wit da stolen investor money, an’ escape to Montana, wea he live part time, say da indictment. 🧾💔🏃♂️🏔️
Even aftah all dat, he still continue wit his fraud by pretendin’ fo’ build mo’ manure-processing plants through one new company he create with one alias, say Mr. Talbert. 🌿🚧
Sheriff’s deputies arrest Mr. Brewer in Montana in 2020 an’ detain him on 24 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, an’ aggravated identity theft. 🚓🔒💰🔍
But Mr. Brewer continue to lie, tellin’ da authorities dat dey get da wrong man an’ he one Navy veteran hero who once save several soldiers from one fire by blockin’ da flames wit his body, Mr. Talbert write in da sentencing memorandum. Mr. Brewer since admit dat dese lies was meant to curry favor wit law enforcement, Mr. Talbert say. 🎖️🔥🤥
“He stay one fraudster through an’ through,” Mr. Talbert write, “an’ need fo’ be punished harshly fo’ ensure both specific an’ general deterrence.” 💢🔒🚫
Mr. Brewer get sentenced to six years an’ nine months in prison fo’ da fraud scheme, an’ he get ordered fo’ pay $8.75 million in restitution to da investors who fall victim, Mr. Talbert say. 📜💰💔”
NOW IN ENGLISH
🐄💩 Man Is Sentenced in $9 Million Cow Manure Ponzi Scheme 📰💰
A California man was sentenced on Monday to more than six years in prison for running an $8.75 million Ponzi scheme that hinged on a nonexistent factory that was supposed to create green energy out of cow manure, federal prosecutors said.
For five years, Raymond Holcomb Brewer falsely claimed to be an engineer who ran a company that built anaerobic digestion plants, which convert manure into biogas, the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California said in a statement on Monday.
Mr. Brewer, 66, of Porterville, Calif., told his investors that he was building the plants and would generate millions of dollars in revenue by selling the biogas, the statement said. He told the investors that they would receive two-thirds of the profits, as well as tax incentives. 😮💼💰
“None of this was true,” Phillip A. Talbert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “Mr. Brewer did not begin construction on a single digester. He simply took his investors’ money and ran.” 🚫🏗️💨
Mr. Brewer, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges in February, spent the money on a 3,700-square-foot custom home in California, a 12-acre plot of land in Montana and new Dodge Ram pickup trucks, federal prosecutors said. 🏠🌲🚚
Anaerobic digesters use bacteria to break down organic material, producing a gas that consists mainly of methane and carbon dioxide. New York City and other places around the world have turned to the process to deal with sewage, food scraps and farm waste, generating a renewable natural gas. 🌍♻️🔥
Mr. Brewer’s elaborate scheme of pretending to run such a process began in 2014, according to a federal indictment. He conducted the affairs primarily through a Wyoming corporation with its principal place of business in California. The company was named CH4 Power, after the chemical formula for methane. 🗂️🔬🔢
Mr. Brewer went to great lengths to convince his investors that his manure project was real, Mr. Talbert said. Mr. Brewer took them on tours of dairies where he said he was going to build digesters, and he presented them with fake lease agreements that he said he had reached with dairy owners across California. He obtained stock photographs of digesters and sent them to investors, sometimes altering the images so they would appear to show construction progress. He fabricated a detailed schedule for the project to show purported progress, court filings showed. 🏢📸🚜
After receiving money from his investors, Mr. Brewer tried to hide it by transferring it to other bank accounts that he had opened in the names of other business entities, family members, and an alias, Mr. Talbert said. 💸💼🔒
Mr. Brewer’s scheme began breaking down in 2019, when some of his investors found out that he was issuing refunds with money he had received from other investors, even though they had not authorized him to use it in this way.
Mr. Brewer’s investors obtained multiple civil judgments against him that year, Mr. Talbert said. Mr. Brewer responded by closing CH4 Power, putting his remaining assets in his wife’s name, obtaining a fraudulent business loan with stolen investor money, and fleeing to Montana, where he lived part-time, according to the indictment. 📜🚔🏃♂️
Even then, he continued to engage in fraud, purporting to build more manure-processing plants through a new company he created with an alias, Mr. Talbert said.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Mr. Brewer in Montana in 2020 and detained him on 24 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
But Mr. Brewer continued to lie, telling the authorities that they had the wrong man and that he was a Navy veteran hero who had once saved several soldiers from a fire by blocking the flames with his body, Mr. Talbert wrote in the sentencing memorandum. Mr. Brewer has since admitted that these lies were meant to curry favor with law enforcement, Mr. Talbert said. 🚔🔥👮♂️
“He is a fraudster through and through,” Mr. Talbert wrote, “and needs to be punished harshly to ensure both specific and general deterrence.” 👨⚖️⚖️
Mr. Brewer was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for the fraud scheme, and he was ordered to pay $8.75 million in restitution to the investors who fell victim, Mr. Talbert said. 📆🔒💵
