Man jailed over biodiesel fraud caper

A man in Texas, US has been jailed for fraud and money laundering in a plot surrounding a non-existent biodiesel plant.

Kenneth Paul Lawrence was sentenced to five years for his role in defrauding investors to put money into a biodiesel plant that was never going to be built. He also received a probated 10 year sentence for engaging in organised crime.

In a statement the Texas State Securities Board said: ‘Lawrence was the proposed operator of the biodiesel plant and received money from Greenway Energy Partners, the managing partner of the energy project. Greenway raised more than $800,000 (€602,525) through the fraudulent sale of investments and Lawrence received $265,000 of that total.’

It was also revealed Lawrence had been fined, and issued a case and desist order, by the Texas Securities Commissioner for selling unregistered oil and gas securities.