Stop me if you ’ve heard this one before : A guy embezzled about $ 9 million by convince investor he was turning cow poop into immature energy — and then not make any of the machine at all .
On Monday , 66 - year - old Raymond Brewer of Porterville , California pled guilty to charges that he ’d defrauded investors . lawcourt record show that Brewer stole $ 8,750,000 from investor between 2014 and 2019 with promises to build anaerobiotic digesters , or machines that can exchange cow manure to methane gas that can then be sold as muscularity , on dairy farm in various county in California and Idaho . But rather of actually build any of those digester , Brewer spent it on stuff like a Modern house and new Dodge Ram pickup hand truck .
According tothe U.S. Attorney ’s Office of the Eastern District of California , Brewer was a prolific chiseler . He film potential investors on tours of dairy where he said he was going to build the digesters and sent cook text file where he ’d signed agreements with those dairy . When investor asked how matter were go or for update on the construction of the digesters or how the digesters were running , Brewer place over “ fake construction schedules , fake invoices for project - related costs , fake power generation report , imitation RECs , and fake pictures , ” as well as forged contract with Sir Joseph Banks and phoney international investors . He must have been great at Photoshop !
The CH4 website as it appeared in 2019, via the Wayback Machine.Screenshot: Gizmodo
Part of the appeal of the scam was in what ’s do it as Renewable Energy Credits ( REC ) , which are credits issued by the Union government signifying that renewable energy has been farm on a site ; those credits can then be sold to companies bet to countervail their fossil fuel emissions . Brewer told his investors that he ’d get them 66 % of all the lucre from those credits .
Five eld is a hell of a long clock time to call folk money and not birth — which is why the U.S. Attorney ’s office has describe Brewer ’s frame-up as a “ Ponzi ” dodging , because he begin repaying old investor with money he was scamming off of novel single . When investor began to get mistrustful , the U.S. Attorneys ’ bureau said , Brewer proceed to Montana and take a unexampled identity . He wasfinally arrestedin 2020 .
Some profiles for Brewer ’s party , CH4 Energy , are still active on business organization directory likePitchBookand food waste resource siteReFED . The company was even the discipline ofa visibility on its “ work”in local paper Visalia Times - Delta in 2016 and was part of a story in the LA Times in 2013 on dairy farm farmers and renewable energy .
Inthe LA Times story , Brewer is quoted as talking about the indisposition of dairy Farmer to put in the digesters .
“ Brewer said he test his system in other state of matter , such as Wisconsin and Idaho , before shopping it around with California dairy farmers , whom he sound out were very skeptical , ” the LA Times save . “ He finally signed his first contract with [ a farmer]—‘Talk about apprehensive , ’ Brewer call back . ‘ That was a small bit of an understatement . ’ ”
Our chum Ray was n’t whole bullshitting — excuse the pun — in peddling his ideas . Anaerobic digesters are real machines that do change over animal waste into energy , and gazillion of clam in federal and commonwealth money have been spent on the engineering . However , question continue aroundjust how “ green ” this vigour isandwhether it ’s deserving the investment .
beer maker will be sentenced in June and present up to 20 twelvemonth in prison house .
Sustainable vigour
Daily Newsletter
Get the beneficial technical school , science , and civilisation news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
