A Solar-Powered Con Artist: Jeff Carpoff

He was not an engineer, nor was he an inventor, instead he was a failed car mechanic. But Jeff Carpoff didn't let that stop him from creating a billion dollar business based on his invention: a portable solar generator. It worked, kinda... and that was all he needed to run his solar-powered con that roped in a really powerful sucker named President Obama. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous Crime. It's a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Hello, Elizabeth dutch Zaren, How you doing great? I like
this sweater. It's nice stripes.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
You look like a French sailor nineteenth century.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Oh yeah, it is sort of right. Yeah. She blows
a little little lawn and I like your pink sweatshirt.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thank you, thank you. It's Muhammad Ali Special. I got
a question for you. You know what's ridiculous?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Oh do I what I do? I do know it's ridiculous.
Do you remember walking into your favorite pizzeria quarters for
the arcade, infamous red plastic cups, bells, ringing for your order,
trading tickets for prizes.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Oh I didn't.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Hell yeah, these moments weren't just about pizza. They were
about family, friendship, and happiness.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
You're reading your press, I.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Am so there's this company you're.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Like, oh, we walk you down right into the blender.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
There's this company called Bundy called Commerce Perfey, Perfey, perfey.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Get this perfect perfect.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
The perfect soda is what they make.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
You know, it's right there? Perfect?

Speaker 3 (01:05):
I mean, come on, so they are offering pepperoni pizza soda.
Oh god, yeah, this is courtesy of Ron Dugod on Instagram.
It's a great source for these things. Yeah, it's a here,
let me read you their copy. Listen kid, listen kid,
sure put my place. Each can of Pepperoni pizza comes
loaded with just three grams of sugar, thirty calories, and

(01:27):
a little something extra enough flavor to make Nona shed
a tear, like a secret recipe from the Old Country.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Oh you needed to read this with like, hey, listen.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Can ships the week of two seventeen twenty five. But
it's already sold out.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's already shipped.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Caffeine, forget about it.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
The energy Gabba Ghoul approved. Oh my goodness, I.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Know made by Uncle PAULI.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Really do they really put an Uncle Pauli in the Yeah, it.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Says shumpulp, I don't know a no sugar added and
then vegan Vinnie approved. And they don't talk about what
they don't.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Have, like a no, we don't sell baked ZD.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
They don't. The don doesn't wear shorts. They don't have.
They don't explain the flavor profile.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
I don't think they need to.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
So you know what I did. I went digging and
I found some reviews and basically it apparently tastes like
carbonated tomato juice.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, the head of like spice for the pepperoni.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
It's vegan, so there's no real pepperoni.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, but pepperon pepperoni's got a little heat, not like
a lotty heat.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
A little bit of the oil isn't an oily, So
totally there you go. I don't know, but the consensus
was disgusting.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
I bet you know. I was like an oil slick
on top of my soda.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
It's so good.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
It's not a fish sauce. Can I get a pepperoni?

Speaker 3 (02:45):
And to sum that all up in conclusion, that's ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Elizabeth Zaren, I'm so.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
You know it's ridiculous.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yes they do, you know. Okay, listen, but you know
how sometimes a person will start out with good into
or at least like innocent intentions me but surprise, surprise,
it all works out and suddenly you're successful. Then naturally
you enjoy the success. It feels good, right, you know
what I mean? So naturally you start I want to
enjoy greater success because I don't feel even better. Right,

(03:14):
But since you got lucky in the first place, you
don't exactly know how to reach greater success. So instead
you cheat a little, just a little corruption as a treat.
But then you need to cheat some more to keep
up right, to keep that ball going. And then soon enough,
you're cheating all the time. And that, Elizabeth, is when
you've become your own monster. It's a surprisingly common story.

(03:34):
It's a human fable we see over and over again.
Today I have exactly such a fable for you about
a solar powered wanna be genius who became a solar
powered monster. This is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd

(04:11):
and outrageous capers, heists and cons. It's oh ways nine
nine percent murder free and one hundred percent ridiculous. Yes
it is, Elizabeth. What do you know about portable diesel generators?
They're loud, yes, this is true.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
And you can't run them inside.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
No, that is bad for your health.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
It's bad business, the portable ones. I've known some people
who live in areas where they lose power lots and
they get like a permanent one outside totally. But you
can use it for like powering things and a power outage.
Construction folks using Yeah, all, you're good at this, pretty good. Yeah?

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Do you know how much they cost for like a
get you one for personally.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
I'd say like one point six million dollars.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
You're not so good there. Four thousand dollars is get
your small one personal.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Exactly costco probably cheap.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Probably cheap, are you with your membership?

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Now, one of those big daddy's in the industrial strength
kind like you'd mentioned about a construction site or say
like to power a Hollywood set that's out in the
middle of nowhere, right, that'll set you back about twenty
grand yikes for entry level and it goes on up
from there.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
And it's just diesel power.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Diesel powered. Right now, if you're on a construction site
or a Hollywood set and you get super used to
that site of the industrial portable diesel generator, right, typically
it's a company like Bob Cat or Caterpillar. They'll sell
you one, the rench you one whatever. In the US,
I look this up. Portable diesel generators is approaching four
billion dollars a year as a business billion.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
With a b B. And we know how much a billion.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Is exactly, it'd be a lot. So it was three
point six and twenty twenty two, three point seven and
twenty twenty three three point eight and twenty twenty four
market is what is growing. It's projected yes, for a
passing four million in a couple of years. Now, Elizabeth,
what do you know about portable solar power generators?

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Huh? I actually have.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Do you have one? It feels like something you would.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
Have to have.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
I have this power bank for emergencies when the power
you keep it charged up. But it's not like the
little ones the size of your phone. Do you put
like this is a big mama, And it's like, I mean,
it's like the size of like two shoe boxes.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Oh damn.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
You keep all charged up and then you know I've
lived through hurricanes or earthquakes. You go without power.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
I don't like that, and you don't. You don't have
to get ready if you stay ready, and I know
that your mom.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
I would rather never have to use any of this stuff.
So you can run a bunch of stuff on it
so you don't have to go like charge phones in
the car. But then if it was like, oh this
is bad, this is gonna go on a while. It
has a little solar sheet like a panel, sure that
you set up over it to recharge it.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
That's really nice, very you. It is Yeah, so like
as you basically pointed out of, a portable solar powdered
generator is a panel of solar photo voltaic cells attached
to like a battery and a transformer. They then converts
the power into usablevoltage. Now there are the industrial portable
solar powered generators. You get a trailer you can drag

(07:05):
around a panel of solar fotable Ta excels and that
will run you about say twenty six grand entry level. Now, Elizabeth,
you mentioned how loud diesel generators are. Can you imagine
how silent a solar powered generator. No smell, no smoke, choking, Yeah,
no pollution.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
Well, and I think it made it's more expensive. But
you spend a lot of money on diesel totally.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yes, hidden costs, yeah, operating costs. Now, about fifteen years ago,
this dream to create a cheap solar powered diesel generator
was a dream for commercial interests, Like it became this thing.
They're like, what if we could kind of do this?
Everybody was going kind of green. Right, enter our man
of the hour, Jeff Carpoff's come on.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Down, Jeff Jeff Carpoffs.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Carpoff with a singular car like car Poffpoffkarpoff. I could
be putting emphasis in the wrong place. Maybe Carpoff. Now,
he is not who you might imagine as a leader
in the green revolution of the early aughts and the
twenty teens. Right. He was that rare rebel working in
the green space who watched Nascar every Saturday. He was

(08:09):
He enjoyed a chew of tobacco and none of that.
He didn't spit it. He swallowed it, which is horrendous. Yeah,
that's like real commitment, doesn't It makes you sick and
the unless you get used to it with little bits
and then you can just kind of like stomach a lot.
I knew guys who did that, but it was not
healthy anyway. He's from around these parts, like people guys
I knew Elizabeth. Jeff Karpoff was from Martinez, California.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, you know, when I was a boy and we
drive into the Bay area, we drive past Martinez and
you can always tell you're in Martinez from the smell.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Now, nothing against Martinez. This is not the town's fault.
There wasn't like a stinky town. There's a big oil
and gas refineries that line the hills. Chevron and others.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
He's a green energy guy exactly. That's interesting.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Sugar sugar totally California, Hawaiian. That's what the CNCH stamps for.
Look at you your real bay a Martinez being real
Bay area that you are. What do you mean just
describe it as a town just so I can imagine.

Speaker 3 (09:05):
You know, I've been there, but I think it's it's
like a working class town. It's right on the Carquinez
straight yep. Or it's San Pablo Bay.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
Yeah, you carcinas straight, your crust.

Speaker 3 (09:14):
And it's like you know, it's it's a cool older town.
You have right across the street is Benetia.

Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yes, we'll also met.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
That used to be a capital of California early day.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yes for a little bit.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
I mean, I can just go on, you really can.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Well, you'll be having to know. Our story starts in
Martinez in two thousand and seven. At that point, Jeff
Karpoff is a mechanic. He's a pretty good car mechanic, right,
but he's not a good businessman. His repair shops multiple
keep going out of business. He tries a few times,
and it leads to a personal bankruptcy that results in
a foreclosure on his home. So there he is in
two thousand. He's a thirty six year old father of

(09:50):
two small kids, married, unemployed, A man who's tried his
hand at owning the American dream a few times and
walked away bankrupted business failure. A man who's also, by
the way, kicked a meth habit five years earlier, but
now has lost the roof that sheltered his family, just
like he never gave up the habit. So the ups
and downs for this man are dizzying. So by age
thirty six, Jeff is a human yo yo. Growing up

(10:11):
in Martinez, Jeff was used to tough times. Like you said,
it's a working class town. It's gone through its ups
and downs as a boy, like his family home was
right next door to a Hell's Angels.

Speaker 3 (10:20):
Bar that totally track.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah right, I thought you'd like that. According to Jeff,
as a boy, he watched quote fights, stabbings, shootings, prostitution,
all kinds of just really crazy stuff. But he also
watched his single mother, Rosalie, worked three jobs to take
care of Jeff and his older sister, and when she
was faced with hard times, unlike his you know, i'd say,
after his latest repair shop closed up and he lost

(10:43):
his family's home. Jeff didn't act like his mother because
he'd seen her suffer, so instead he went back to drugs,
but not to doing meth, don't worry. Instead he started
to sell pot. So specifically, medical marijuana was coming a
thing at the time. It was still the new market
in two thousand and seven, kind of wild West market
where an independent person make their mark and go to
big profit. So he goes down to another one of

(11:04):
your old stopping grounds, Santa Cruz. Oh yeah, he tries
to get into the medical marijuana game there by pot. Yeah,
exactly right. So but the pot he brought to Santa
Cruz was rejected by the dispenser.

Speaker 3 (11:16):
Is it bringing coals to Newcastle?

Speaker 2 (11:18):
No not not that's a really good analogy for this one.
But no, in this case, it was his pot may
have looked good, but that was the dead giveaway that
he'd been pumping his pot full of chemicals. And oh,
that doesn't fly, according to that's according to the founder
one dispensary. Right, yeah, that doesn't fly. Yeah, So Jeff
was showing the door. Now this is when fate stepped
in threw a little action into that. Yo, yo, that

(11:40):
is Jeff's life. An old customer from one of his
shuttered repair shops right asked Jeff if he thought he'd
be any good at a selling solar panels, and this
leads to a conversation with a neighbors. Jess mulling this
over at this idea, He's like, well, let's do a
solar Is that a good thing? Trying to lean into this.
His neighbor tells him, you know, he would personally love
to use roller up at his cabin, but you know,

(12:01):
he always fears it some jerk would steal it while
he's away, or some kids will break it, so he
doesn't want to like invest in it. The neighbor says
he wished what he had was like a portable solar
power generator he could just take up to the cabin
with him, use it while he's there, and then bring
it back. Jeff's like, huh. Gives him an idea, a
billion dollar idea, Elizabeth. So he draws up this idea,

(12:22):
he develops it, and then he patents it. The title
of his patent is simple, straight to the point quote
trailer with solar panels.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
Oh, I love that?

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Right?

Speaker 3 (12:30):
Itays interesting around this time I had friends who were
getting into selling and like installing solar oh yeah, because
they were all like the rebate at tax credits oh yeah,
yeah yeah. And you look at something like Martinez, it's
like blue collar sat to the Earth. Yeah, like all
that area Panol Crockett, Crockett, El seborani El Saw Yeah, amazing,

(12:53):
amazing folks who just work really hard.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Totally. I'm a big fan. So I'm pulling for this
guy at this point in the story. So what does
this look like this trailer with solar panels? Great question, Elizabeth,
what does it look like this? I love this energy
you're bringing. I also, I know you love the text
specs and the tech talk tech tech techy. So I'll
put it to you this way. Imagine a flatbed trailer

(13:17):
that you'd pull behind a car or a truck.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
Right now.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
Imagine that same flatbed trailer. It's like the kind you'd
runt from like a U.

Speaker 3 (13:22):
Haul, but you'd put like a riding mower up.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
Sure, perfect right, chain it down that time right now.
Imagine that's covered in solar panels, and at one end
there's a battery and a transformer box that can turn
all that sustainable sunlight into steady, reliable electric power. That's
what he designed, right to have no tech talk.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
Huh like that that made sense to me?

Speaker 2 (13:42):
Now what it looked like a more specific visual terms,
imagine a ray of two rows of solar panels. Right,
they're five panels in each row. They're adjustable, which means
you can anchor them on this rotating arm so you
can stand them up in a vertical position. He drives
them out to the location so they don't get damage,
and then he can put them down and adjust them
to this angle. Boom, good to go. All right, So

(14:03):
Jeff calls his new invention the solar Eclipse, an ironic
name for solar power if you ask me, Yeah, but whatever,
Yeah it's Jeff. He's a rebel, definitely Elizabeth. So anyway,
he starts to market and sell his new invention and
attract investors for this cutting edge technology he got that's
self sustained solar generators.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
Right.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
People are like, oh, so what happens next for Jeff?

Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, what happens next for Jeff?

Speaker 2 (14:26):
Do things turn around for this crazy kid? Well, his
new invention. It attracts interest. People immediately see the practicality,
the market friendly pitch. He's going it's clean green tech, right,
which is buzzwords in two thousand and seven. This is
at a time when people were earnestly interested in these things.
Like it seems so long ago now, right, the energy
coming into that Obama era of like green tech, which

(14:49):
interestingly we'll get into later. George W. Bush spearheads this
whole green energy movement. So anyway, it may not seem
like this when you're you're there, but Martinez isn't that
far from the Silicon Valley, so it's like an hour
drive away, right, And like I said, at this time,
there's a lot of hype and excitement about the future
for new green tech, so that the investors come a calling.
With the backing of initial investors, Jeff he forms his

(15:10):
company and then the investors they aim their sites at
Hollywood in a concentrated effort to leverage Hollywood's desire to
go green. And they want to get you know, pats
on the head from like that Al Gore inspired environmental
activists of.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
The early adds Leo DiCaprio.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
Oh you just hold that thought, Elizabeth. So the solar power, right,
it's supposed to be, Oh, it's not loud, it's not gross,
it doesn't pollute Hollywood. People love it. And then for
far off locations it's perfect right, free energy from the sun.
So I think it sells itself right. And for me
it's quiet there when I know you love that. So
one of the early Hollywood types to get involved is
Heart Backner. Now this actor offers to throw his Hollywood

(15:50):
muscle behind them to help promote Karpoff's new green tech.
And you, Elizabeth, you may be thinking heart Backner. I
don't know that name. What Hollywood muscle does a whole
heart have?

Speaker 3 (15:59):
Is that like his birth name?

Speaker 2 (16:00):
And his real name is no? You know his work?
Or rather, I'm confident you'd recognize him from one specific role.
You remember Diehard? Yeah? Do you remember the slimy bearded
cokehead Harry Ellis who tries to cut a deal with
Hans Krueber. Ellis says, and I quote, this will probably
throw you back. Hey, babe, I negotiate million dollar deals
for breakfast. I think I can handle this euro trash.

(16:20):
That's him?

Speaker 3 (16:21):
Or is he the guy standing behind that guy?

Speaker 2 (16:23):
No, Bauyo, that's Heart. So he's the one who tries
to throw his Hollywood muscle behind a rt H A
R T Yeah, bachner bo c HN.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
I don't know why I'm getting wanting. Yeah, spellings, I
don't know.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
I'm happy to help him provide them. So anyway, Jeff
and he they're like, yeah, let's do this, let's take
over Hollywood. So I with that, Elizabeth, I'd like to
take a little break these messages. I'll tell you about
where Jeff takes his solar powered dreams of Hollywood. And yes,
Leonardo DiCaprio gets involved.

Speaker 4 (16:52):
All right, Elizabeth, we're back.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
So where were we?

Speaker 3 (17:17):
You were telling me about how he was going to
take Hollywood by storm.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
That's right, Jeff takes Hollywood. Yeah, okay, and I promise
you Leonardo DiCaprio would.

Speaker 3 (17:24):
Enter the picture theo Lecaprio.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Well, he does, he does right now. So in twenty ten,
DiCaprio gives this interview about his latest film, a Little
Diddy called Inception. You may have heard of it, the
Christopher Nolan film that was proudly made with solar power.
According to DiCaprio, well, it was like twenty percent of it.
But anyway, He gave an interview to the Philippine Daily
Inquirer in which I love the press junkets. What are

(17:48):
you going to do right, so Leo said, and I quote,
A lot of this movie was made with solar power.
It's the first movie I got to do with solar power.
I had a conversation about it with Alan Horn, who's
the head of Warner Brothers. The generation that we had
on the set were all powered by solar energy. It's
gonna be a big conversion to do stuff like that
every day, not just in making movies, but everything in
the world.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
So Leo DiCaprio is so spot on.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
He's like, really gangbusters about this right now. The reason
why this well known environmentalist obviously so geeked unportable solar
power is obvious, but he still expresses it to the
Philippine Daily Inquirer for those catching up in twenty ten,
we do a lot of things in the world that
are wasteful. We keep talking about this all the time. Hopefully,
fingers crossed, with these small steps, we'll make that transition

(18:33):
on a much larger scale in the future. It got
bad news from the future.

Speaker 4 (18:37):
Leo.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
Listen, no, I know you had good intentions, buddy, but.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
This fingers still crossed. Brother. So guy's on fire. I'm
on your side this.

Speaker 3 (18:48):
Yeah, no, I'm even pushing.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
But Elizabeth, this is obviously not what happens. We do
have portable solar generators now, but that green energy has
not become the industry standard because of scammer like Jeff Carpoff.

Speaker 3 (19:01):
Oh, I wouldn't put it squarely.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Oh just hold that thought. Oh. The story of Jeff
low Key pisses me off because I agree with Leo
that we like what he's talking about. We need green tech,
we need green sustainable tech, all right. This guy is
a big part of the reason why we don't because
him and a couple other cylinders. Another example, the green
tech has had its moment, and then that moment is
largely over in the public's imagination now because of there

(19:25):
were so many green tech scams. Yeah, wasted the tax
credits that they got, They wasted the chance to actually
establish it. Instead, we got a solar power energy industry,
and that's it pretty much. It should have been a
lot bigger, It's my point. Anyway, How exactly did our
zero of the day, Jeff go bad? Well? By twenty ten,
his company was now called DC Solar, and he detracted

(19:47):
the attention of industrial investors at this point, like US Bank, Right,
companies like Sherwin Williams, the paint company. Yeah, both of them.
They could see the potential for this commercial like application. Right.
So soon now he's got big money interest. What does
Carpoff do? Well, Jeff makes the curious choice to raise
the price for his portable solar generators. New starting price

(20:10):
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per portable generator trade?

Speaker 3 (20:14):
How much was it before? Was twenty grand?

Speaker 2 (20:16):
One hundred thousand is what he was telling investors before.
It's fifty thousand dollars. Now he's basically added fifty percent.
So but with all this initial interest, why not make
even more of each sale? Thought the man who couldn't
make a mechanic shop work.

Speaker 3 (20:29):
How about volume?

Speaker 4 (20:30):
So anyway, yeah, right, Jeff, he has a Martinez Martinez.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yes, come on. So he's got a rental scheme in mind.
That's where he thinks there's a real money. He's like
these these trailers could be rented out at like eighteen
hundred dollars a month. And again, there's more to the scheme.
He's got a scheme right, specifically, he told his investors
will make big profits off government buy a tax credits.
In other ways, he found a way to melk the
US taxpayers. It's a surprisingly common business strategy really, just

(20:57):
ask Elon Musk.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Anyway, the story goes in two thousand and five, the
George W. Bush ERAIC Congress approved tax credits for green
energy investment. Right, it was a big deal. This business
could now reduce their federal taxes by thirty percent for
every dollar they spent on green energy. So this this
moment in US history right when Solvent Energy was first
blowing up as a big business. Interestingly, it was under

(21:19):
a Republican president. I think that's notable, right, And that's
also how it became a real deal industry, and that's
why industry gets behind it. Now. It seems like it's
not like a like.

Speaker 3 (21:27):
Oh, we're going to do a thing job creating, because
that's what they put these finite resources that we're going
to run out of we need anyway.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
It's an obvious thing. So they were trying to make
the smart play and business are trying to get him
on board, and then Jeff was their partner for it.
Because they didn't understand this stuff. They didn't know how
to pick we got.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
Jack and I'm Jeff exactly.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
So this federal cash it's splashing around in the green
energy space and excites the interest of the corrupt and
the criminal minded because they see a ton of free
money for anyone with a halfway decent green energy proposal.
Back to Jeff, who has, by the way, is the
same thing, but he's got the perfect product ready to
take advantage of all this free cast. So his solar
generators are a picture perfect tax credit scheme aimed at

(22:08):
big corporations, because they'll say, you know, essentially he worked basically,
I'll put it to you this way. His big steel
works out that the mega corporations looking to lessen their
tax bill, they could determine how much they wanted to save,
and then they could buy exactly that many solar generators
from Jeff's company, DC's solar Then all they need to
do is put down a deposit, because he's doing like
a lease buy agreement thing that's equal to thirty percent

(22:32):
of the generator's cost, and then the corporation could deduct
from their tax bill the exact amount based on the
green investment tax credits incentive. So what this means is
the corporations wanted to play ball, but didn't want to
buy the solar generators. They could lease them in a
long term deal. That way, they never have to touch them,
maintain them, move them around anything. They have him bring
them out whenever they need them, which they never really do.

(22:54):
They're just getting the investment credit the entire time. They
just stays on the books. And then so they have
the tax credit in a long term deal. Now they
can write off thirty percent of their budget every year. Boom,
this huge deal. So twenty eleven, DC Solar starts signing
deals with corporations like Sherwin Williams. Two months after the
ink on that deal drives, Jeff buys himself a million
dollar home. Boom. He's like ready to enjoy life. He

(23:18):
buys a home on a hill in Martinez. Yeah, the
mansion has in a gated community, has like a six
car garage, all a guest cottage. Jeff's finally made good.
Now he's looking down in his hometown. So there were
signs though that not all was as it appeared, because
when the fall came, but Sherwin Williams came to the
DC Solar production facility to inspect their purchases that they're

(23:38):
not going to really take possession of DC solar sales
executives who are there to show him these things. They
noticed that there's a little bit of a fiction, okay,
a lot of fiction hiding behind the impressive face of
the presentation. So basically, the generators put out in the
front row look great, that first row, after that, every
other row not fully assembled.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
Oh yes, it's like a British bakeoff. You if you
mess up, you put the good stuff.

Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, except two thirds of the generators are just there
like they they don't work, They're just there to look good.
Like there it is. There's another one. You can count
them basically though, it's the wheels and all the panels.
So anyway, Jeff, he gets confronted by a sales exec
about this, and Jeff tells them, you don't worry about that.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
Huh, I don't worry.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
Pretty sales exec quit right, So now good for them, Yeah,
good guy, they had their integrity.

Speaker 3 (24:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
No, there's something I haven't mentioned yet. Jeff was a
car mechanic, but not a solar engineer. Like he literally
had no idea what he was doing. Yeah, but he
didn't let that stop I'm Elizabeth. He set his sights
on bigger and bigger come ups, right, So I remember
I told you he and his initial investors and that
the guy from die Hard wanted to leverage the potential
portable solar generators for on set shoots for Hollywood. While

(24:46):
they start focusing on that totally right, if it really
was a legit thing. So what was their next move?
Like other than like whatever movie Leonardo DiCaprio was working on?
Next like other than him? Where there they go? Well,
they branch out, they start conn other productions. Okay, But
rather than me tell you about that, Elizabeth, I'd like
to take you there, which means I'd like you to
close your eyes. I'd like you to picture it. Elizabeth.

(25:10):
It's a warm and sunny day, the arisoft, the sunlight
on your face warms your cheeks as you watch Steve
Carrell shove a chocolate Eclaire into his gaping maw. The
beloved comedic actor pushes pastry into his pie hole like
he's getting paid to eat, but he's not. He's actually
getting paid to wait. Welcome to the hurry up and
wait world of life on a film set. You are

(25:32):
currently sitting near craft services, nibbling on a protein bar
that you pulled out of your pocket, which is why
you're watching Steve Carell maw down on chocolate he Claire's.
He's now working on his second apparently Steve Carell's stress eats.
The stress is coming from the fact that the film
set for the new movie Alexander in The Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, very Bad Day is currently stalled, waiting for

(25:52):
the power to come back on. You were supposed to
be a set photographer working as a favor for a friend,
but you thought there would be a camera on set
for you to not that you had to bring your
own gear, so you were fired within the first hour.
But since it's an outdoor shoot far from anywhere that
resembles civilization, you've had to stay on set the whole day,
and then solar power generator blew out and the sets

(26:13):
all shut down. So now you're waiting for the shooting
day to be called and for the shuttles to arrive
so you can catch a lift back to the parking lot,
which is a couple miles away. But from what you
just heard from a passing ad walking and talking into
a walkie talkie, answering the questions of the gaffer aka
the electrician for the film set. A generator must have blown.
That's why the lights cut out and plunged the outdoor

(26:33):
shoot into unscheduled darkness. So you follow another star as
she makes her way to craft services. It's Jennifer Garner.
She wears a sweet smile on her face despite the delay.
Soon enough, Megan Malayally joins her at the craft services table.
The two actresses pick over the options. Jennifer Garner goes
for a yogurt. Megan Malayali ops for gummy bears and
a banana. You wait to grab some more food. You

(26:57):
don't want to crowd the stars. You know you're not
supposed to, but you also want to get it's something deep.
You've been on the set for about twelve hours. When
you see Meghan Malayley walk away, you pop up. Before
you've taken three steps towards craft services table, you see
Donald Glover. He's headed there too. This movie has someone
for everyone, you think before you take a wide turn
and peel off. Now you wait some more. It takes

(27:17):
Donald Glover forever to decide what he wants to eat.
How hard could it be Donald, you think to yourself.
You're getting angry. You can feel it. Donald Glover finally
decides on a blow pop candy. He walks off. You
don't delay. You head for craft services. But would you
believe it? Jennifer Coolidge pops up out of nowhere. It's
headed for it. You guessed it, the craft services table.

(27:37):
You have got to be kidding me, you think to yourself.
But again you peel off and give way to the
latest hungry star. Jennifer Coolidge is quick to pick out
some cookies and an energy drink. Smart choice, you think,
But then she puts the cookies back and ops for
a granola bar and some strawberries. But she changes her
mind again. She puts the granola bar back. You're like
a kid who desperately needs to pee. You're standing in place, squirming, waiting,

(27:58):
humming to yourself. Meanwhile, Jennifer Coolidge finally decides to take
a box of cereal into the strawberries and the energy drink.
She walks away. You practically speed walk like one of
those Olympic hip swingers, towards the craft services table, but
a first ad catches you halfway there. She's got good news.
The solar power generators are a bust. They're going to
be called the day. Turns out it was a hair

(28:19):
dryer that tripped the brake or shut down the solar
power generators. Who knew the first ad says, thankfully, the
shuttles will be here in ten minutes. You can go
with her to the drop off site, so you never
get to grab a snack. Instead, you curse whoever it
was that made those stupid solar power generators. As you're
led off to the shuttles, but wait on the way,
you see another star from the set of this movie.

(28:40):
It's mixed Dick van Dyke. And when the genial old
actress sees you, he gives you this big smile. The
old trooper is unbothered by shooting, delays, his smile stays
with you. Oh, Dick van Dyke. So there you go, Elizabeth.
That's how it went day for me, right, finally a
fun day. That's how it went when the solar power
generators were actually put to use a Yeah that was

(29:03):
actually a true story. Yeah, Pink had the same thing
when she did use them for a concert on MTV.
They were so Luckily for Carpoff, his usagees are actually
kind of rare. So most of the time the companies
were fine but just holding the leases on their books
and taking the tax credit. That kept things simple. And
then came the first whiffs of real trouble. The IRS

(29:23):
started making noise that tax credits could be denied if
the generators weren't actually being used. That was bad days, right,
totally total, because the tax credit was really what Karpoff
was selling, and his buyers didn't really want his solar generators.
So what does Carpoff do next? Elizabeth, Well, is it
time to fold up shop again, declare bankruptcy, and walk
away from yet another failed business? Way to go, Jeff,

(29:45):
not this time, Sister. Twenty twelve, Jeff met with his accountant,
Ronald Roach and the company's general counsel are A Lauer,
and the question he ran by them was quite simple,
right to the point, what if they mixed their funds
and they used money from the purchases of new gen
narrators to pay for the missing lease money for their
earlier deals they just kept this thing going. In other words,
what if we did a Ponzi game? So, but in

(30:08):
this case, the one who would be left holding the
bag would be us. Taxpayers, no loss. That was the argument. Yeah, Tota,
perfect magic trick for tax cheats. Now they could keep
the money rolling in with new clients like T Mobile
and Disney, and they did. So this this Ponzi scheme
calmed the financial waters. But there was one other huge
problem for DC Solar. Jeff was never the perfect person

(30:30):
to be a leader in this new green energy space,
you know. I kind of pointed that out earlier, like, well, okay.
For instance, they shot a promotional video with him, and
the crew from marketing was like, yeah, let's have you
would be the face of talk right. So he's there
on camera and Jeff He's got pre written lines like
gass holding up the Q cards and Jeff is trying
and this is how it goes. He's like, uh, we

(30:50):
strive for a healthier planet by offering unique solar products
that I can't remember what the son of a Wow.
He go hit it like a shot at tequila to
call down because that's probably the answer, and then he
try again. So this debacle leads to the hiring of
John Miranda. There's a guy from Hollywood. He's hired to
help out as a communications director. We'll just smooth things

(31:12):
out with the communications director. His first day on the job.
He pulls up to DC Solar. He sees a muscle
car parked in the handicapped spot out front getting its
oil changed by some employee. You know who car it was. No,
he's not handicapped. So then comes the news that Jeff
wants to launch a brand partnership to bring more attention
to DC Solar. Right, get them out ahead, So he

(31:32):
tells the new comms director he wants to become a
big time sponsor for you guessed it, NASCAR because nothing
says screen energy like NASCAR.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
Beginning, I was pulling for this.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Right, didn't it flip real quick? So he wanted to
see his company's name painted on the skin of a
stock car. He loves this man, Come on, he loves Nascar,
Elizabeth loves gas guzzlin muscle cars. Now he's a rich guy.
He collects cars. He by the way, he had a
seventy eight trans Am Firebird, just like the one from
Smokey and the Band. In fact, even better than that,
it was personally owned by good old boy Burt Reynolds himself. Jeff.

(32:05):
He also had another iconic Southern good old boy dream car,
he bought himself a general Lee a Dodge Chargers of course, Elizabeth,
anyway back to.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
Generally a big old house and Martinez.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yes, so anyway back to NASCAR sponsor deal. Jeff wants
to spend millions of the company's money to associate his
clean green energy company with the most easily identifiable, anti green,
most polluting sport there is, you know, like completely anyway,
so that's what happens. DC Solar ends up on stock
cars for NASCAR. This no way, Oh yeah, So somehow though,

(32:38):
this works for from twenty eleven on for about eight years,
he's able to keep this long con going along the
way he sings the national anthem in a baseball game, Yes,
like other Texo who knows. I did not watch his performance. No,
Jeff watches the value of his company just balloon into
a billion dollar business. It's this ridiculous moment in American history, Elizabeth. Yes,

(33:00):
they couldn't tell it at the time because everyone was
making too much money and getting accolades for how green
they were. And so by the time d C Solar
is worth two point five billion dollars, Jeff is now
a fully formed, fully corrupt monster of his own making yeah, sure, right,
and he leans into it at this point. So now
he's got a red pickup truck lifted and he drives
around as a newly minted billionaire and his red truck

(33:21):
blast the star spangled banner from speakers aimed out at
the world. What yeah, but no, but even better in
Las Vegas, he has had this custom chopper built for
him on a TV show, and he had the motorcycle
painted with an American theme, like on the gas tanks
of flags and eagles. And Jeff told the bike builder
the tanks, I want, look the statue of liberty holding
the flag and the flag blowing in the wind. I

(33:42):
want the Constitution on the backfender.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
We the people the Constitution.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Okay, yeah, anyway, and does.

Speaker 3 (33:54):
Everyone just talks about how Idiocracy was a documentary.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
Oh yeah, this exhibit A. So meanwhile, there was this
actual nation and its taxpayers who were bank rolling all
of this exactly fraud, wasting abuse.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
And there are kids who like have no school lunch.
But no, Jeff's got a lift.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
We're paying for this. So the irs is about to
expose all the rot at the core of this new
multi billion dollar business. I don't want you wearing Elizabeth.
But in twenty fifteen, Jeff spoke with the VP of
Operations for DC Solar. He had a strange request. He's like,
you want to know if the VP could generate, you know,
some fake paperwork. You know, I just wanted to get
us patched up a little hole. It's for tax purposes.

(34:30):
He said, he needed fake paperwork. They made it look
like on paper T Mobile was leasing a thousand solar
generators for a term of a decade at about a
rate of you know, thirteen million dollars. So you know,
so all told that's an annual rate. It's all told
it will be one hundred and thirty million dollar deal.
And so the VP of Operations was like, I don't know, man,
I don't know if I can do that. Jeff's like,

(34:52):
what if I gave you a million dollars? The guy
was like, well, He's like, what if I gave you
and the guy you find to sign the paperwork from
T Mobile of him million dollars too? Now? How you doing?
Guy's like, I could probably find a guy. I got
a friend a tea mobile. Turns out that at that price,
this VP was able to look past in the ethical lapses.
He did find someone from T Mobile, a fellow executive,

(35:12):
a foreign navy veteran, a man who once had integrity.
I think now you know his price. He's willing to
set it aside for one million dollars. Ethics over to
the left exactly. So this keeps the I R s
away for a little while longer. So how long can
Jeff find wielding stooges willing to race jail time in
service of his long con? Great question, Elizabeth. Well, just

(35:35):
like his fake investments and deals, he would need a
steady stream of suckers to sell their ethics out at
market rate. Yeah, okay, let's take a little break and
after these smooth, cool, watery ads, we'll be back and
see how this whole scam goes. Put Boy, Elizabeth, it's

(36:11):
twenty sixteen now, Oh yeah, the long con scam that
is known as d C Stolar is still a rollin.
Jeff Carpoff is still at it, and this is when
things start to really go off the rails. At first,
they enter into a deal with the car insurance giant Geico.
One interesting wrinkle about that Elizabeth. Geico is owned by

(36:31):
Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway. Is it known for it's
really you know, sober and smart minded investment strategy. Yeah,
he's also he is no stranger to a tax credit. Also,
in the twenty.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
Teams, you don't become a billionaire.

Speaker 2 (36:46):
Without sucking off the government. Teat oh welfare them.

Speaker 3 (36:49):
I was gonna say, you gotta get your welfare totally.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
Now. In the twenty Teams, Warren Buffett was all in
on the green energy green tech, in particular solar energy.
He was cuckoo for coconuts at it. Okay, we're this
is not just conjecture. At twenty seventeen shareholders meeting, Warren
Buffett told investors, quote, somebody walks it in with a
solar project tomorrow and it takes a billion dollars or
it takes three billion, We're ready to do it, and

(37:12):
the more the better. So all in right there somebody
who walked in with a deal. It was Jeff Karpoff
with DC Solar. So he walked in with a solar project,
and they're like, oh, true to form, Geico was down
to do business just like the big Boss had ordered.
So right up until Jeff tried to rush the deal though,
so In response, the chief financial officer for Geico said

(37:32):
at the time, quote, if there's a way out of
this deal, take it.

Speaker 3 (37:36):
Oh wow.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
But big Boss Warren Buffett was all in on solar,
so everyone was like, oh, we got to ink the deal.
So Geico inks the deal. Price tag one point two
billion dollars for portable solar power generators, and no one
thinks that it will become suspicious about this.

Speaker 3 (37:51):
How many could there possibly back to where.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
Are you cornering the market? Like, are you buying all
of the solar.

Speaker 3 (37:57):
Power seperators the taco trucks?

Speaker 2 (37:59):
Is Geythard now distributing them to their customers?

Speaker 3 (38:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (38:03):
So the real deal was tax credits. They would save
Geico three hundred and seventy seven million dollars on their
tax bill, all thanks to Jeff's Carpoff's scamming American taxpayers
with this federal tax credit. So, with this influx at
one point two billion on the books, DC Solder now
moves to headquarters in Benetia, that's right, former capital of
California for a full thirteen months. If you were from

(38:24):
eighteen fifty three to eighteen fifty four, had to look
that up. I'm as good as you on the California history.
So this then it basically as you described. It's a
small industrial town on the other side of the carkeenas
straight from Martinez.

Speaker 5 (38:35):
No.

Speaker 2 (38:36):
DC Solar love it. Yeah, by one of my best
friends grew up there, spent a bunch of time there,
so like he would take me around and show me
like the good sides of it. Yeah, it's helpfool to
have a local Anyways. DC Solar had a huge pile
of orders for new generators now because it got the
one point two billion dollar deal plus all their previous
deals that they've you know, but if you visited the
production facility, you'd have no idea that was the case.

(38:58):
There was no sense of urgency, No business is getting done,
No like we're rolling them out, cranking them out. It's
just like three guys walking around probably on break. They
look like they're on break. So the generator factory, there's
no rush at all. Right, Jeff has a different plan.
He has his company focusing on the least business, where
that's much easier to fake with paperwork and they don't
have to actually build all those solar generators that are
such a problem. So he and his team come up

(39:20):
with his fresh con. They send the buyers a report
from an independent engineer that details the portable solar generators
that they least, identifying them by their DMV vehicle identification numbers.
They're vin except the independent engineer was Jeff's high school buddy,
Joseph Bayliss. So the real deal is between twenty eleven
and twenty eighteen, DC Solar sold seventeen thousand generators at

(39:43):
that inflated price, and that same time they built six thousand.
So you can kind of see a little problem they're building, like, yeah,
not quite one to three exactly. So for those folks
who bought solar generators, Jeff obviously I said he had
got his different strategy than actually delivering what they purchase. Instead,
he offers to ware house their generators and deliver them

(40:03):
whenever and wherever they're needed, and to make that all
work out with his limited number of solar generators. What
this means is all these companies owned these same generators
and he just peels off the ven numbers and puts
them ven numbers according to what is on the paperwork,
like let's make sure we've got it this, And so
they put the bag of VN numbers. They pop them
all off, they label them, and they put them in

(40:25):
another bag, and they take the other bag and they
put them all back on and they drive out to
the spot.

Speaker 3 (40:28):
Oh wow.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
Yeah. So if there's some pain in the neck buyer
who wanted evidence that their solar generators were actually in
the field where they said they would be, Jeff had
an answer for that. He would send his team out
with a GPS transponder and then he'd have them bury
that there and then when they would look on the
app and they oh, look, see there it is. There's
your there's problem solved.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
There are no generators.

Speaker 2 (40:49):
There, just no just a GPS transponder buried in the
tag in the dirt, and so it's out there, don't
you worry. So sometimes he actually would have to deliver
solar generators for the prickly customers who would drive out
to the far out location and check for themselves or
actually show up and need and need it. They're oh,
I've got actual plans to use this I.

Speaker 3 (41:09):
Thing that they have to be generating power for something.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
Yeah. So actually, so in that case, then he would
have his team bust their butts. They'd have to actually work,
and then they would get the generators and then get
the trailers to the location. Whoo, problem solved now. Jeff, though,
even though he's taking these problems all one at the time,
he's got a much bigger problem he doesn't know about,
and it came in the form of three letters the
IRS twenty sixteen. The RS is now investigating DC Solar

(41:34):
for its Hainky accounting practices, its abuses of the tax
credit program. Then the IRS is they're good at what
they do, so they go and it doesn't take it
long to figure out the DC Solar is selling its
portable solar generators for about one hundred and fifty grand.
That's not hard. They put that out there right. Then
the IRS determines that if you were actually to go
by say market rate based on materials, manufacturing costs, a

(41:55):
reasonable up charge, the portable solar generator was more like
a thirteen brand. He's selling it for one hundred and
fifty thousand and taking a tax credit one hundred fifty
thousand as opposed to thirteen thousand, So that's one hundred
and twenty seven thousand dollars markup, right, But the IRS
is focused on the tax credit which is they're getting
forty five thousand dollars as a tax credit for each

(42:17):
generator that's purchased in or least in a long term
deal instead of the three thousand, nine hundred dollars tax
credit they should be getting. So for those not good
at math like me, that's eleven point five times more
valuable as a tax credit. Yeah, free money, free money.
So while the IRS does its due diligence and looks
after the American taxpayers money, the Obama administration wants to

(42:39):
announce they've got a new green energy revolution money the
an initiative, just like a Bush did. We're doing it bigger.
So they have what they call smart cities and they're
gonna make all these cities green. So in twenty sixteen,
the Obama administration has Jeff Karpoff's DC Solar be a
key partner in the smart city initiative. Oh no, yeah,
he is, the Obama administration partner with DC Solar to

(43:01):
take on the green energy revolution, elevating his company to
the level of Amazon Google parent company Alphabet. That's the
These are the foot soldiers, these corporations and Jeff, that's
the green tech revolution. So transportation Secretary Anthony Fox put
out a press lease at this time quote DC Solar
will assist all seven finalist cities and building strategies for

(43:23):
electric vehicle charging infrastructure to encourage and facilitate the adoption
of electric vehicles by individuals, businesses, and municipalities. Lawdie Dunk
so proud of this stamp of imprimature and approval. DC
Solar puts out their own press release because you know
they love a good This is great for the long
con We are now partners of the United States. We

(43:43):
are recognized by the top people in government as being
a go to operator to help them get things done.
A bunch of empty statements, So as long as you
don't ask the irs what they think about DC Solar,
the Feds love this company. Yeah. Meanwhile, Jeff celebrates his
new level of success as a gift to his hometown.
He buys Martinez its own minor league baseball team, and

(44:05):
not only that, he names it after Joe DiMaggio, who,
fun fact, was born on November twenty fifth, nineteen fourteen,
in Martinez, California. I know I didn't know that either,
learned that in this research. So in honor of the
Yankee Clipper. He names the new team the Martinez Clippers.
Don't go looking for the team. They are now defunct
because of Jeff. Anyway, he spent some of his ill

(44:27):
gotten gains on himself and his family. He bought himself houses,
one in Vegas, another one in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
He bought some new muscle cars because he gotta get
new muscle cars, some new trucks, new clothes for himself
and his wife. He bought a luxury box, some seats
at Allegiance Stadium. He's a Raiders fan. Of course, he's
a Raiders fan.

Speaker 6 (44:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:46):
To make a little extra side money, he also starts
leasing out some of his warehouse space to pot growers
in return for a cut. Oh boy, so now he's
come full circle. He's back to medical marijuana. Twenty seventeen,
things start to get tight. The mood around the office shifts.
Jeff is known to swan through the office with literal
shopping bags of cash. That wasn't the weird part, per se,

(45:08):
but he and his wife Paulette installed surveillance cameras everywhere,
and his wife Paulette had a big ass TV installed
in her office, so she could watch the feed in
real time all the time. That was weird. But when
she started to pull employees aside for independent grilling about
why were you going to the bathroom so much? What
were you doing in there for so long? That made

(45:28):
things super weird. And then when Paulette started to march
around the office with these two huge dogs on leashes
Belgian malinoa was she named one Fu and the other Diesel. Diesel,
by the way, was a trained attack dog Diesel. And
so that's when things became cartoonishly evil and weird.

Speaker 3 (45:47):
So she comes grills you and why did you go
to the bathroom? Why are you conning the government game system?

Speaker 2 (45:54):
At this point, they also need more muscle than Diesel,
So they go and they hire a huge pole loan shark,
A huge a loan shark. He's Polish. Yeah, it's important
to him. So at different times he tells employees at
DC Solar that he was a prison camp survivor. He
tells other employees he is a well practiced professional killer.

(46:14):
He tells other ones, I'm a real life gangster. All right.
So one early investor who unfortunately had just experience what
his presence was like. Yeah, because he made some trouble
for Jeff and DC Solar because you know, he's like,
I want my money back. I'm gonna talk to the
sec or whatever. And this guy's like hey, So he
sends over this no neck persuader and professional attitude adjuster,
and the investor said, and I quote when I saw

(46:36):
his Polish mafia come in, that was it. After that, yeah,
the investor cuts his losses walks away, cutting off all contact.
He's like, keep my money. So twenty eighteen, the inevitable
finally occurs. An employee for DC Solders asked to do
something unethical instead, He's like no and quits. Yeah, then
he contacts the FETs because his name is Sebastian Johano

(46:57):
and he's an up and comer in the green energy space.
Kid is a solar energy specialist they've hired like this,
like whiz Kid. He's also somebody who has a law
degree and a business degree from Villanova, so he ain't
about to waste his life on some unethical business point
for Jeff. So he goes and he's like, no prison
time for me, bro, and he goes right to the fence.
And now the car poffs at this point they may

(47:18):
have some suspicious Remember they got the surveillance cameras. They're
getting suspicious. So they're now securing a future for themselves
outside of America in case, you know, they need to run.
They need to like you know, cut tie, So they
shift some of their millions to offs your accounts.

Speaker 3 (47:31):
This is a guy with the Constitution on this motor.
Oh yeah, lady, liberty holding love America.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
Rips off the taxpayers and to go run away to
Saint Kitts and Nevis because that's where he's bought a home.
With the extra proviso that he buys a certain level
of luxury home, he'll get citizenship and passports as a
purpose of the purchase. So in the meantime, he's asking
his business managers like take photos of Jeff and his
wife Paulette for their new passports. And the business manager remembers,

(47:58):
like they seem to to rush. The way they said
it was like, we have this guy who's going to
do it for us super quick. So the couple had
I think a definite sense that the Feds were closing
in because or maybe they'd heard about federal agents asking
investors questions. Whatever it was, they knew it was time
to flee, and yet they did not flee, Elizabeth, Yeah,
I thought he'd appreciate this instead of fleeing. At the
end of twenty eighteen, they decided to hold a Christmas

(48:20):
party for DC Solar at the Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco.
Jeffica threw this huge Christmas party for everybody. Right, he
hires some music acts to play for everybody. You want
to guess who he hired because you know you know
these names, Power Power, No, the band, Sugar Ray. Oh no, wait,
there's more.

Speaker 3 (48:41):
It's so perfect, there's more.

Speaker 2 (48:43):
Second, please wallho In eighteen Sugar Ray and the other
big act was friend of the show mister Worldwide himself,
pit Bull. They hired pit Bull and Sugar Ray. Yeah.
And then three days later, on December eighteenth, twenty eighteen,
one hundred and seventy five federal agents from the IRS,
US Marshalls and the FBI, traveling in unmarked cars from

(49:05):
the Sacramento Field Office. The FBI Field Office, took the
trip down to Benetia and Martinez about nine thirty in
the morning. Elizabeth, the one hundred and seventy five federal
agents descended like locusts on DC Solar headquarters. At that
same moment, a swat team kicked in the door of
the carpaff family home searching for the couple. Then they
were not there. With the one hundred and seventy five

(49:27):
agents swarming around, Jeff phones into his office. He had
just one question, Uh, do you see my passport in
my wife's passport on my desk. No, they were not there, Elizabeth.
The Feds had already sees the fence had seized them
along with the million and a half dollars. He had
his office safe. After hearing that his passports were nabbed

(49:48):
by the Feds, Jeff just said, oh, then he hung up.

Speaker 6 (49:52):
That was it.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
I remember the DC Solar holiday party with the Sugar
Ray and Pitbull at the Fairmount Hotel in San Francisco
was just three days before he had a chance to run. Instead,
he wanted to party with Sugar Aye and Pitbull.

Speaker 3 (50:06):
The hangover.

Speaker 2 (50:07):
Yeah, and so what an emotional swing this was. You know,
you're king of the world partying with pitfull three days
later you're a man on the run, wanted by the
Feds to make their escape from America. The Carpoffs they
call a friend in Las Vegas, this guy who uh
who actually incidentally trained their attack dog Diesel. They're like, oh,
he's probably criminally connected. So they offer their dog trainer
six hundred and forty thousand dollars in cash and a

(50:28):
Cartier men's watch if he'd arrange for them to get
out of the country. Now, if this didn't work out,
he had a backup plan, because Jeff got a backup plan, Elizabeth.
Jeff told a friend, quote, I still have five hundred
thousand dollars worth of meth buried in a cemetery in Martinez.
What that's my emergency pership?

Speaker 3 (50:44):
Wait what.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
Doth buried in Martina? This is just like this is.

Speaker 4 (50:54):
So good.

Speaker 5 (50:55):
It's like, I know it's very this is hyperlocal were
at this point, but like it's also superos a backup plan,
a Las Vegas dog train.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
Yes, change your killer attack dog.

Speaker 3 (51:09):
It's like, I'm familiar. And then you have five hundred
k meth in a graveyard in your.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
Hometown, and this is your quote emergency parachute. That's my
old golden parachute.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
Just grab the math to get on the plane.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
Now, I's a keep in mind, you have to sell
a half million dollars worth of myth without getting ripped
off or busted. That's also part of your Yeah.

Speaker 3 (51:33):
And if he's street level, is gonna take him.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
A long long time. And if he does it in
one day purchase, he's a right person to flip on
or to just rip off. Why participate? He ain't got
a future, He's a liability to even meet with.

Speaker 3 (51:49):
So he's he's coming in fresh like I'd roll him
and take everything.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
So before he had a chance to bust out the
myth from the cemetery.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
Carpoff worked on plan is it still in the seme?

Speaker 2 (51:58):
I doubt? He met his old high school buddy Bayliss
at a Burger King parking lot, just like old times
in high school. Yeah, right, So he asked his old
buddy to get a burner phone for himself and take
a trip down to Vegas. He needed his old high
school buddy to do one more favorite man, so he
needed him to go and destroy all the evidence. No,
he wanted him to go down because he left a
ton of damning evidence in a warehouse in Las Vegas.

(52:21):
It's only a matter of time before the Feds figured
it out. There's the address is written all over the office.
So there were hundreds of faked vin plates for all
the generator trailers, and that would connect the whole thing.
So he's like, hey, man, the buddy, the high school buddy,
did he do it or not? Elizabeth, I don't think
he did it.

Speaker 6 (52:37):
He did it.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
He did the one last favorite man and then he
flipped immediately.

Speaker 3 (52:43):
For I would I would have been like, hey, irs, FBI,
you want to come with me running there and to
love it.

Speaker 2 (52:49):
Just bring some bags on, some gloves. So he becomes
a cooperating wedness for the FEDS against his high school buddy. Now,
in July twenty nineteen, he met with the US attorneys
and he agrees to a plea deal and that was it.
That was pretty much all the FEDS needed because Jeff's
old high school buddy knew everything and everyone involved because
he was so close to Jeff, and Jeff needed his
him to help with all the illegal stuff. So anyone

(53:11):
he dealt with was also doing the illegal stuff. So
all he was was just a list of illegal people
in himself. He told them everything, and then they just
built a case against everybody, the General Counsel, the VP
of Operations, everybody, the Fed's accused DC Sular defrauding their
customers out of a sum of nearly a billion dollars.
The Fed's had plenty of charges to go around. Sure,
so it was like a guilty party at the federal courthouse, right,

(53:33):
the General Council was there, the accountant, the VIP of operations.
They all plead guilty. Then it's Jeff and Paulette's turn.
They plead guilty. In January twenty twenty, Jeff gets charged
with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. His
wife Paulette also caught a charge of money laundering.

Speaker 3 (53:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:49):
So the companies, though, who had effectively conspired with DC
solig to take advantage of this lucrative tax credit, were
ordered to return the tax break money to the US Treasury,
otherwise it could essensibly be seen as robbing the US taxpayer.
We're particularly sensitive about that.

Speaker 3 (54:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
So for his high crimes against the American people, Jeff
was convicted and sentenced two thirty years in federal Oh wow,
sent to a medium security facility at Victorville. That's fun,
oh the desert, yeah, victor So meanwhile, his wife, Paulette,
she caught eleven year sentence, So see you again. Laid
up Paulette, and so ends the sordid saga of DC Solar,

(54:29):
the once proud green energy billion dollar business out of Martinez, California.
What's a ridiculous takeaway here, Elizabeth?

Speaker 3 (54:36):
Oh, the takeaway there's so many. There's so many. I
think that it's so frustrating when you have these great ideas,
great intentions, totally and the crime just seeps in like
water through a crack.

Speaker 2 (54:51):
And the lack of due diligence. And then you have
the people who are everyone's taking advantage because I didn't
bring in. There was tax lawyers, there was a bunch
of other people who are also involved in the machinery
of this crime.

Speaker 3 (55:00):
Well you saw it with the PPP loans exactly, just
like everybody looking money.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
Yeah. The lack of ethics, I mean it galls me.
I don't take part in this kind of crime. I
find this like I don't like to steal from the
American taxpayers. I think that's just the laziest way to
do it. I don't mind some co corporation though. So
I'm not the most ethicult person.

Speaker 3 (55:19):
I pay way more taxes than all the billionaires.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
Yeah, oh yeah you do.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
I'll pay my taxes and be grudgingly and get mad
about it. But at the same time, it's like, that's
what keeps this exactly.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
I want us to spend our money wisely, and I
want us to do stuff intentionally and with the intention
of looking up for the people.

Speaker 3 (55:36):
Well, and everyone likes to act like it's little things
here and there where people are getting over on the government.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
Things like this.

Speaker 3 (55:42):
It's Huge's so many of these right under everyone's nose.
It's not like, oh, I'm getting extra food stamps and.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
Yeah, I'm just noticing one that there's criminal. There's some
that are like gray area where it's not really criminal,
but it's like the product of inside relationships and so forth. Anyway,
my ridiculous takeaway, Lizbeth. Folks who wrap themselves up in
the flag you mentioned this earlier. The folks who have
a truck that plays a star spangled banner and a
motorcycle with the what do you call it the Constitution.

Speaker 3 (56:10):
On it, right, the Constitution.

Speaker 2 (56:14):
You can't trust that person, that's my read, because they
don't They clearly don't mean it, like they are using
MRICA as a signal to others. It's a code, it's
a symbol, but it is not to them. A nation
of three hundred million people striving together to make sense
of this, all right, and.

Speaker 3 (56:29):
What have they done for the country's.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
He's disregarding the abundance and the beauty of this land
and the people is everything I love about America. He's
he's abusing that stuff, right, And I don't mean anyone
who like loves flags is bs. That's not what I'm saying. No, No,
I mean those folks who you see out there who
wrap themselves up in symbols are often the same ones
who will rob everyday American people because that's their extent,
is a symbol. They're not they are not committed anyway.

(56:55):
I agree. There you go. That's it. I don't know
how ridiculous that is.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
That's it's ridiculous to talk Breakfast World.

Speaker 2 (57:01):
Yes, please, could you favor us with one? Oh my god,
I love you.

Speaker 6 (57:17):
What's up you guys, longtime listener, You've had me at
the very first episode with Guy Fieri's stolen car and
Regina Cornflower I believe her name was. I just wanted
to give you a proposal, Zaren. My husband is an
engineer for the VNSF. How about you get in that

(57:38):
way and you can steal all of the nikes you want.
Love you guys, and love the show.

Speaker 2 (57:50):
Is amazing.

Speaker 3 (57:52):
This never happened, just hypothetically. It's just kidding.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
Thanks for that. And always you guys can find and
it's online Ridiculous Crime on the social medias mostly it's
I think, blue Sky and Instagram at this point, no
new ones. We're not on like frack hole or anything.
So we have a website, Ridiculous Crime dot com. It
is once again From's actually website of the year in
a map related category. So we're very excited about that.

Speaker 3 (58:20):
We have amazing maps.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
Yeah. So we also love your talkbacks obviously, so please
download the iHeart app. Get in there, download it, record
yourself a talkback and maybe hear your voice here we'd
like to hear it. And also you can email us
if you like a Ridiculous Crime at gmail dot com.
As always, please start the email Dear producer d thanks
for listening. We will catch you next crime. Ridiculous Crime

(58:46):
is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zaron Burnett, produced and
edited by Obama's favorite green energy powered producer Dave Kutstin,
and starring and at least ructor as Judith. Research is
by George W. Bush's Environmental Think Hank, Marissa Brown, and
Alex French. Our theme song is by twenty twenty five
pol Earth Festival headliners Green Tech and The Scammers aka

(59:08):
Thomas Lee and Travis Duttony. The host wardrobe provided by
Botany five hundred guest hair and makeup by Spartakle Shot
and mister Andre. Executive producers are Joe Demaggio's Ghost Hunters,
Ben Bolin and Noel Brown. Red Crime Say It One

(59:30):
More Time, Geeks Crime.

Speaker 1 (59:33):
Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio four more podcasts.
My heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.