Biofuels producers sentenced for fraud in RIN market

The co-owners of a Waterloo, Indiana based biofuel producer have been formally sentenced after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy and fraud, according to Inside Indiana Business.

Fred Witmer and Gary Jury were the owners of Triton Energy and Gen2 Renewable Diesel. Witmer has been sentenced to 57 months in prison, Jury to 30 months. The two have been charged with generating more than $60 million in fraudulent tax credits and renewable fuels credits.

The two companies were used to “run a sophisticated shell game and exploit the Alternative Fuel Credit Program,” Don Fort, chief of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation, <a href="http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/35914113/biofuels-producers-sentenced-in-fraud-case">told</a> Inside Indiana Business. It is alleged that Witmer claimed the credit on fuel he said was used for transportation, before later admitting the fuel was actually sold for other uses, such as the production of fire starter logs.

"The defendants purposefully defrauded the federal government, taking illegal advantage of a program created by Congress to help our nation achieve energy, economic, and environmental goals," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Wood of the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. "These crimes have been prosecuted to the fullest extent, and our actions here demonstrate that the Justice Department will continue to prosecute fraud in the RIN markets."