NASHVILLE, Tenn.- December 17, 2018 – Christopher B. Warren,
50, of Anthony, Florida pleaded guilty Friday to one count of mail fraud and
one count of securities fraud for operating a $28 million Ponzi scheme,
announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Warren was the founder and chief investment officer of Clean
Energy Advisors (CEA), a company registered in Wyoming with offices in
Nashville, Florida, and other locations.
Warren admitted Friday in U.S. District Court, that CEA
recruited sixty investors for its private investment funds: Utility Solar IV
and Utility Income Fund. To attract
investors, Warren claimed that CEA owned working solar farms throughout the
state of North Carolina. Warren further
claimed that Duke Power agreed to purchase the energy produced by CEA’s farms
and that he would use the revenue to pay dividends to investors. To hide the fraud, Warren created phone
audited financial statements and made regular Ponzi payments to select
investors. As the scheme was uncovered,
Warren told investors he would repay the principal investments pending the
imminent sale of the company to a foreign purchaser. Warren admitted that no sale ever occurred or
would materialize. To date, at least $15 million is still owed to investors.
Warren faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a
maximum fine of $5,000,000 and three years of supervised release, when he is
sentenced on March 8, 2019.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie
N. Toussaint is prosecuting the case.
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