Solar power generation pyramid scheme case

What happened to a former solar power executive?

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former executive of a California solar power company was sentenced Tuesday to 6 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $620 million in restitution for his role in a $1 billion fraud scheme, federal prosecutors said.

Is DC Solar a Ponzi scheme?

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An owner of DC Solar, a Benicia-based company, was sentenced today for a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme— the biggest criminal fraud scheme in the history of the Eastern District of California, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

What could the carpoffs do if DC Solar went bankrupt?

The Carpoffs had options, even if they weren’t ideal. They could close DC Solar. Or they could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, hoping that creditors would see enough worth saving to let the company reorganize. Or maybe there was another way.

Would DC Solar defraud new buyers?

DC Solar wouldn’t just defraud new buyers to pay earlier ones. By holding itself out as a legitimate solar company, it would give all of them—new and old—cover to drain millions of dollars of tax credits from the U.S. Treasury. The American taxpayer, that is, would subsidize the scam.

What happened to solar loans during the subprime lending crisis?

Like in the subprime lending crisis, some companies issued loans to people who could not—or would not—pay them. Like in the subprime lending crisis, thousands of these loans—and in solar’s case, also leases—were packaged and sold to investors as asset-backed securities with promised rates of return.

Why do big solar companies use Wall Street Money?

Since at least 2016, big solar companies have used Wall Street money to fund their growth. This financialization raised the consumer cost of the panels and led companies to aggressively pursue sales to make the cost of borrowing Wall Street money worth it.