What a bullsh–ter.
A California man was sentenced Monday to almost seven years in prison for running a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme centering around cow manure.
Ray Brewer, 66, of Porterville stole nearly $9 million from investors after telling them he could turn cow dung into green energy, US Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
Between March 2014 and December 2019, the fraudster claimed his business CH4 Power built anaerobic digesters on multiple dairies in California and Idaho that were capable of using “microorganisms to break down biodegradable material and turn it into methane,” which can then be sold on the open market as green energy.
Brewer took his shareholders on tours of the dairies, where he supplied them with forged lease agreements, altered bank statements and doctored contracts with multinational companies that made it appear he secured revenue streams.
The scammer staved off shareholder concerns by sending fake pictures of the digesters under construction, as well as fake construction schedules, invoices for project-related costs, power generation reports and more.
Brewer even spoke to multiple newspapers detailing his business model, telling the Los Angeles Times in 2013 that many of his California dairy farming clients were very skeptical.
“Talk about apprehensive,” Brewer said of one man in the piece. “That was a little bit of an understatement.”
Despite their fear, investors forked over $8,750,000 for the revolutionary business that they expected to return them 66% of all net profits, as well as tax incentives.
“None of this was true,” Talbert’s office said.
The conman instead hid the funds in multiple bank accounts he opened under the names of different entities, family members and an alias, before using the money to buy “personal expenditures:” two plots of land that were 10 or more acres each, a 3,700 square foot custom home and new Dodge Ram pickup trucks.
When investors started catching on, Brewer assumed a new identity and fled to a Montana property that he had used the embezzled money to buy.
He was tracked down in November 2020, but tried to weasel his way out of trouble.
“Upon his arrest, Brewer told officers that they had the wrong man. He also claimed to have been in the Navy and recalled how he once saved several soldiers during a fire by blocking the flames with his body so that they could escape,” Tablert’s office stated.
“Brewer has since admitted that these were both lies meant to curry favor with law enforcement.”
He pleaded guilty in February to wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft charges.
He was sentenced to six years and nine months behind bars, though he originally faced 20 years.
