Home / Crime and Justice / Lawyer Gets 11 Years in $912M Ponzi Scheme
Lawyer Gets 11 Years in $912M Ponzi Scheme
11 Mar
Summary
- Lawyer Ari Lauer sentenced to over 11 years for $912M Ponzi scheme.
- DC Solar's scheme involved non-existent solar generators.
- Owners Jeff and Paulette Carpoff received 30 and 11 years respectively.
A federal judge in Sacramento, California, has sentenced lawyer Ari Lauer to more than 11 years in prison for his involvement in the $912 million DC Solar Ponzi scheme. Lauer, 61, admitted to 23 criminal counts, including bank and wire fraud, just before his trial was set to begin.
Prosecutors stated that Lauer, as DC Solar's outside counsel, was central to what they described as the largest criminal fraud in the Eastern District of California's history. The scheme, which operated between 2011 and 2018, involved fabricated financial statements and lease contracts to hide that roughly half of the 17,000 solar generators sold did not exist.
Lauer was responsible for transferring investor funds between accounts and creating misleading documents to conceal the company's financial shortfalls. The scheme's impact was significant, causing Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to take a $377 million charge. DC Solar's owners, Jeff and Paulette Carpoff, pleaded guilty in 2020, with Jeff receiving 30 years and Paulette 11 years.
Several other individuals involved in the DC Solar fraud have already been sentenced, with terms ranging from three to eight years. An eighth person is awaiting sentencing next month. Lauer's defense team argued for a lesser sentence, emphasizing his cooperation and lack of obstruction. He expressed a desire to return to his family and community.
