Free Republic

Yet there, at his life’s lowest, the remarkable happened. A contraption he’d rigged up in his driveway—a car trailer decked with solar panels and a heavy battery—got the attention of people with real money. Carpoff could scarcely have imagined it. He’d never gone to college and had no experience in green technology. His invention, he thought, was “crazy, harebrained.” But investors saw the makings of a clean-energy revolution. For decades, there was basically one way to rush power to places without electricity: the portable diesel generator. -snip Carpoff’s machine—a solar generator on wheels—was a sun-fueled alternative. He called it the...

Green energy executive Robert A. Karmann, who was the chief financial officer for a now non-existent company, was sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday for his role in a Ponzi scheme encompassing billions of dollars. Karmann was also ordered to pay $624 million in restitution for his involvement in fraudulent acts related to the DC Solar company, which made mobile solar generator units. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, investors were given “generous federal tax credits” for purchasing the units. The investors were also falsely told that there would be consistent revenue...

"The owners of DC Solar, a Benicia-based company, pleaded guilty today to charges related to a billion dollar Ponzi scheme— the biggest criminal fraud scheme in the history of the Eastern District of California. The government’s investigation has resulted in the largest criminal forfeiture in the history of the District with over $120 million in assets forfeited that will go to victims, and has returned $500 million to the United States Treasury, with more to come, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Jeff Carpoff, 49, of Martinez, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. His...

An incredible collection of nearly 150 classic and modern cars is coming up for auction, but they each come with a conflicted history. The cars were seized by the feds from the owners of DC Solar, who have been accused of running the bankrupt solar-powered generator company as an $800 million Ponzi scheme. Jeff and Paulette Carpoff haven’t been charged with any crimes as of yet, according to the U.S. Attoney’s office, but their situation remains under investigation. In the meantime, the Carpoffs and the Department of Justice agreed to hold an interlocutory sale and put the proceeds into a...