A former San Francisco Bay Area attorney, 61-year-old Ari J. Lauer, has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison after being convicted in connection with the $1 billion DC Solar Ponzi scheme.
Key Takeaways
Former attorney Ari J. Lauer was sentenced to 11 years and five months in prison for his role in the $1 billion DC Solar Ponzi scheme, which involved fraudulent sales of mobile solar generators.
- Attorney Ari J. Lauer received an 11-year sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud
- The DC Solar scheme raised approximately $759 million from investors between 2011 and 2018
- Prosecutors described the scheme as the largest criminal fraud in the history of the Eastern District of California
U.S. Attorney Eric Grant of the Eastern District of California announced that Lauer received a sentence of 11 years and five months on Monday. Lauer, who was indicted in 2023, pled guilty in October to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, as well as other related charges.
The scheme involved the sale of mobile solar generators that were marketed as providing emergency power for cellphone towers and lighting at sporting events. The company, DC Solar based in Benicia, California, attracted investors with federal tax credits associated with the solar generators. However, prosecutors said about half of the 17,000 generators did not exist.
Lauer played a key role in the scheme as outside counsel to DC Solar. Prosecutors stated that without his participation, the fraud scheme would never have been operational. They also noted that Lauer was the last person to accept responsibility for the fraud, only doing so on the eve of trial.
According to prosecutors, approximately $759.4 million was raised from investors between 2011 and 2018. Financial institutions and other investors transferred an additional $152.7 million to DC Solar for related transactions involving the purchase and leasing of generators.
The scheme caused significant financial damage, including a $377 million charge taken by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 2019. Along with Lauer, five other defendants have been convicted and sentenced in connection with the DC Solar case. Jeff Carpoff, one of the founders of DC Solar, is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence and has been ordered to pay $790.6 million in restitution.
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