Green energy scammer sentenced to 12 years in prison
A California man who bilked Mainers and others out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a green energy scheme has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. James Rivera was also ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution, according to a press release from Maine’s Office of Securities.
Rivera in July was found guilty of 10 counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud in federal district court in California. Beginning in 2007, he used various company names, including Apostles Inc. and Almighty Wind, to scam dozens of investors, including at least 10 in Maine. Through webinars, phone calls and other methods, Rivera claimed to own a patent for a new windmill technology and falsely told investors he had pending orders from government agencies, a large retail chain and film director Oliver Stone. A Brewer couple invested $30,000 in his companies before realizing it was a fraud and contacting Maine’s Office of Securities, according to the release.
Though Rivera was ordered to repay victims, Maine Securities Administrator Judith Shaw said in the release that “often very little money is ultimately recovered in this kind of investment fraud case.”
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