Renewable energy entrepreneur David Dunham was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay $10,207,000 in restitution for defrauding government subsidy programs. Dunham started Smarter Fuel Inc. after converting his Volkswagen to run on cooking oil to keep his commuting costs down. He and his business partner planned to collect used cooking oil from restaurant and cafeteria kitchens to process into biodiesel to power vehicles and heat buildings. However, the company claimed credits for partially processed oil and oil that the company never possessed, and claimed credits for the same oil multiple times. Then during an audit, Dunham fabricated paperwork, hid the identities of his customers, provided fraudulent explanations and directed his customers to do the same. (www.justice.gov/opa/pr/biofuel-fraudster-sentenced-seven-years-prison-scamming-multiple-federal-agencies-and)
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