Feds charge 3 in alleged green energy Ponzi scheme

Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania are charging three individuals for allegedly orchestrating a $54.5 million Ponzi scheme for an alternative energy company.

The United States Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said Thursday that Troy Wragg, Amanda Knorr and Wayde McKelvy defrauded more than 300 investors, and are being charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit both.

{mosads}They led Mantria Corp., which purported to be working on a carbon-negative residential community and a carbon-negative fertilizer made from charcoal, according to a 5280 magazine investigation into the firm from 2011.

But after collecting $54.5 million from investors, the suspects spent it, made little profit, used some new money to pay investors and told numerous lies about their company’s financial state.

“The scheme alleged in this indictment offered investors the best of both worlds — investing in sustainable and clean energy products while also making a profit,” said U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger in a statement.

“Unfortunately for the investors, it was all a hoax and they lost precious savings. These defendants preyed on the emotions of their victims and sold them a scam.”

The 5280 report declared Mantria to be the “biggest green scam in America.”

Various people formerly linked to Mantria agreed to a $6 million settlement with investors last year, Philly.com reported.

But Wragg, Knorr and McKelvy were excluded from that settlement.