Ten years in federal prison and more than $87 million in restitution. It’s the punishment for a Texas man, Philip Joseph Rivkin, after he pleaded guilty to a massive biodiesel credits scheme in the federal renewable fuel program. He was also ordered to forfeit $51 million for selling the fraudulent credits, according to the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Rivkin pleaded guilty last year to one count of mail fraud and one count of making a false statement under the Clean Air Act.
“Rivkin’s abuse of the biodiesel program, a program designed to further our nation’s energy independence and combat climate change, was an abuse against the American people,” said John C. Cruden, Assistant Attorney General for the Division. “This sentence should send a strong message that those committing fraud in the bio-diesel program will be vigorously prosecuted and sent to prison.”
Rivkin admitted that starting in 2009, he operated and controlled several companies in the fuel and biodiesel industries, including Green Diesel LLC, Fuel Streamers Inc. and Petro Constructors LLC, all based in Houston. Rivkin claimed to produce millions of gallons of biodiesel at the Green Diesel’s Houston operation and then generated and sold RINs based on the claim. In reality, the government said no biodiesel was ever produced at the Green Diesel facility. The scheme allowed Rivkin to generate more than 60 million RINs that were fraudulent, which were then sold to companies that needed to obtain them and resulted in millions of dollars in sales.
When the government started its investigation, it led to the discovery that Rivkin was really Felipe Poitan Arriaga, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala. He had fled the country and with the cooperation of the Guatemalan government was deported back to the U.S.
