Ray Brewer claimed he could turn cow manure into green energy, and he took in millions of dollars from investors hoping to cash in. Federal prosecutors say it was all a bunch of, well, cow dung.
The Porterville, Calif., man was sentenced Monday to six years and nine months in federal prison for running a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.
Brewer, 66, lured in investors using forged bank agreements and contracts and doctored photos that made it look as if he was building anaerobic digesters at dairy farms across California, prosecutors said. The digesters, large machines that break down biodegradable material and turn it into methane, were supposed to be built in farms in Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of California, Brewer also took investors on tours of dairies where he claimed he would be building the digesters.
Energy News Beat