Ray Brewer, 66, of Porterville, California, will serve time in jail for defrauding $8.75 million in investors through a “cow dung-to-green energy system” that was nothing more than a pile of cow manure.
The U.S. attorney’s office announced that Brewer was given a federal prison term of six years and nine months on Monday.
Prosecutors believe that Brewer operated the hoax from 2014 to 2019 in which he falsely claimed to be constructing anaerobic digesters at dairies in Idaho and Fresno, Kern, Kings, and Tulare counties in California.
In the litigation document filed, it was stated that anaerobic digesters “use microorganisms to break down biodegradable material and turn it into methane” that can be sold and that also gives the producers renewable energy credits for creating green energy.
Federal prosecutors claim Brewer promised investors he would convert cow excrement into methane in exchange for 66% of net profits and tax breaks.
Cow manure scheme of Ray Brewer
Ray Brewer claimed to have raised millions of dollars for the project while giving investors tours of the dairies where he purportedly planned to build the digesters.
According to the prosecution, he handed them fraudulent lease agreements with dairy owners, false loan agreements with banks, phony contracts with international businesses, and false images of the equipment being built.
He also sent phony schedules, invoices, power-generating reports, and images to his investors to keep them informed on the fictitious construction.
Brewer also gave some investors their money back by utilizing funds received from other investors, to make the deals look more genuine.
The 66-year-old allegedly used the money from the investors to fund his expenses, including the purchase of land, a custom home, and new Dodge Ram pickup trucks.
New identity
Some of the investors who discovered they had been duped by him won court judgments. But before being apprehended, Brewer changed his identity and relocated to Sheridan, Montana, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
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