Ethanol Blog

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- The owner of Indian River Biodiesel in Fort Pierce, Florida, pleaded guilty for his role in a scheme that generated more than $7 million in fraudulent renewable identification numbers and sought more than $6 million in fraudulent tax credits, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Christopher Burdett, 59, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Burdett pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and to file false claims, according to the DOJ.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months. The conspiracy count includes a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine whether to accept the plea agreement after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

Burdett's company claimed to turn various feedstocks into biodiesel but when reporting to the IRS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the number of gallons the company allegedly produced, Burdett and his company "vastly overstated" their production volume to generate more credits, according to the DOJ.

When auditors sought more information from the company, Burdett and general manager Royce Gillham, who was sentenced last year to 37 months in prison, provided false information about their fuel production and customers.

According to court documents, the company filed with the IRS forms requesting tax payments for $2.3 million in March 2018, as well as for $5.9 million and $1.5 million in February 2020.

Between Feb. 17, 2017, and April 19, 2019, Gillham and another employee of the company generated 1,574 batches of RINS and claimed to have produced 9.7 million gallons of biodiesel, according to court documents.

Then between April 19, 2017, and April 16, 2019, Gillham and an employee sold RINS 52 times totaling 14.5 million RINS.

Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division, said the fraud committed "undermines the integrity" of the Renewable Fuel Standard and "hurts farmers and refiners" who follow the law.

"The defendants compromised the core of a program designed to secure abundant renewable fuel," said Jeffrey A. Hall, assistant administrator of EPA's office of enforcement and compliance assurance.

"By claiming credit for fuel they never produced or sold, the defendants not only defrauded American fuel producers and consumers but also compromised our energy security. Lying to the federal government and to others under federal programs for profit is an elemental federal crime and intolerable in our society."

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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