California Man Receives Prison Sentence for Cow Manure Fraud Scheme
California consistently ranks among the biggest producers of renewable energy in the U.S., making green power a lucrative business in the most populous state in the country. Ray Brewer saw those dollar signs as a golden opportunity, but his ambition has since landed him behind bars.
On Monday, Brewer was sentenced to six years and nine months in federal prison after being convicted for scamming $8.75 million from investors from 2014 through 2019. According to a statement from federal prosecutors, the man claimed to be building anaerobic digesters to harvest cow manure for energy at various dairies across the state. Those devices break down biodegradable material like cow dung and turn it into methane, which can then be sold and give the producers renewable energy credits for producing green energy. Brewer told investors he would turn the manure into methane while they would receive 66 percent of net profits and tax incentives.
It went beyond just Brewer sweet-talking the people with money. He took the investors on tours of dairies where he allegedly planned to build the digesters and even boasted that he'd raised millions of dollars for the endeavor. He even sent them forged lease agreements with dairy owners, fake loan agreements with banks, fraudulent contracts with multinational companies, and doctored pictures of the machines under construction to prove his operation was legit.
Instead, the millions of investor dollars went into several bank accounts that Brewer used for his personal spending. This included buying up plots of land, a custom-built home, and new Dodge Ram pickup trucks. He kept up the ruse for years by sending investors updates on the nonexistent construction using fake schedules, invoices, power generation reports, and photos.
Brewer moved to Sheridan, MT and assumed a new identity after investors caught on to his scheme and began initiating lawsuits against him. When he was finally arrested, he told authorities they had the wrong man and that he was in the Navy and saved several of his colleagues from being burned in a fire. He later admitted they were lies to make himself look better in law enforcement's eyes.
Let Brewer's fate be a reminder that all bull dung stinks and can only last so long.
