USA v. Kingston et al

  1. June 05, 2023

    $511M Biofuel Credit Fraud Figure To Appeal 40-Year Sentence

    A leader of a $511 million renewable-energy tax fraud scheme who was sentenced to 40 years in prison and given a $443 million fine told a Utah federal court Monday that he will appeal to the Tenth Circuit. 

  2. April 08, 2023

    Leader Of $511M Biofuel Credit Fraud Scheme Gets 40 Years

    A Utah federal judge handed down a 40-year sentence to the leader of sprawling renewable-energy tax fraud scheme that generated $511 million in false payouts and doled out lesser sentences to four members of a fundamentalist sect who helped him perpetrate the scheme.

  3. April 03, 2023

    Feds Seek Life Sentence In $511M Biofuel Credit Fraud Case

    A Los Angeles businessman convicted for his role in a $511 million renewable-energy tax fraud scheme should get life in prison, prosecutors told a Utah federal court Monday, arguing that his "unparalleled greed," lack of remorse and other factors support such a sentence.

  4. February 12, 2021

    Convicted LA Businessman Can't Redo $512M Tax Fraud Trial

    A Utah federal court rejected a Los Angeles businessman's requests for a new trial related to his involvement in a $512 million renewable-energy tax fraud scheme, finding the federal government's evidence sufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict.

  5. April 30, 2020

    $511M Fraud Conviction Based On Withheld Info, Court Told

    Los Angeles businessman Lev Dermen wants a Utah federal court to reopen discovery following his March conviction for a $511 million fraud, citing a new guilty plea from a Beverly Hills lawyer that Dermen says shows prosecutors withheld important information from him, including an allegedly corrupt ex-FBI agent.

  6. March 25, 2020

    Feds Say Virus Fears Didn't Taint $511M Fraud Conviction

    Prosecutors who recently obtained a conviction against Los Angeles businessman Lev Dermen for a $511 million tax fraud told a Utah federal court Tuesday the man's push for a coronavirus-based mistrial is off-base since the district is still still conducting already-begun criminal trials to this day.

  7. March 23, 2020

    LA Businessman Says Jury's Conviction Was Virus-Driven

    The Utah jury that convicted Los Angeles businessman Lev Dermen in a $511 million tax fraud last Monday appeared to have been in the grip of a coronavirus panic, Dermen's lawyers told a federal court Monday, emphatically renewing the camp's pre-verdict request for a mistrial.

  8. March 16, 2020

    LA Businessman Convicted In $511M Biofuels Tax Fraud Case

    A federal jury in Salt Lake City on Monday convicted Los Angeles businessman Lev Dermen on money laundering-related offenses in a sprawling $511 million tax fraud case accusing him of masterminding a multistate fraud to pass off fake biofuels to reap federal incentives, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  9. March 16, 2020

    Feds Snub Virus-Based Mistrial Bid In $511M Fuel Fraud Case

    Federal prosecutors pushed back Monday against a mistrial bid by a California businessman who was convicted of participating in a $511 million renewable-energy tax fraud scheme, saying the man's claims that it was wrong to bring jurors together during a global pandemic were overblown.

  10. November 27, 2019

    Dark Energy: Did Corrupt Cops Prop Up $511M Biofuel Fraud?

    He was known as “Lion,” and he seemed to have a power move for every situation. For crossing international borders. For partying in Miami. For ordering risotto. And if you believe prosecutors, one of his best power moves was corrupting law enforcement agents as he ran an underground empire that robbed the U.S. Treasury of half a billion dollars.