A Florida man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for his involvement in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. 50-year-old Christopher B. Warren of Anthony, Florida was charged in a 12-count indictment in July of 2018. In December of 2018, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and securities fraud.
Warren has agreed to pay more than $15 million in restitution. Court documents show that Warren was the founder and chief investment officer of Clean Energy Advisors, CEA. The company was registered in Wyoming with officers in Florida, Nashville, Tennessee, and other locations.
Starting in November of 2013 and continuing through September of 2017, Warren designed and carried out a scheme to defraud investors by offering investment opportunities in solar farm projects which were supposedly owned by CEA. Warren claimed that the company owned working solar farms throughout North Carolina and that Duke Power agreed to purchase the energy produced by those farms.
He claimed that the revenue would be used to pay dividends to investors. In reality, CEA had no earnings, profits, or contracts with any utility company. Warren hid the fraud by making regular Ponzi payments to certain investors. Further details can be found here.