They attracted investors by telling them that they could benefit from federal tax credits by leasing back their MSG units to DC Solar. The company would then make revenue by leasing the MSG units to other companies.
Carpoff and his co-conspirators misled investors about the market demand for DC Solar’s MSG units. They also lied about the company’s revenue from leasing to third parties. They covered up their lies by showing false financial statements and lease contracts to investors.
In reality, DC Solar did not make substantial revenue. It was losing huge amounts of money. Carpoff and his co-conspirators stopped manufacturings MSG units. However, they were selling to investors thousands of units that never existed. They carried out their fraudulent scheme by swapping vehicle identification number (VIN) stickers on MSG units that were manufactured earlier. They claimed to have around 17,000 MSG units. In fact, they manufactured only half of that number.
Carpoff and his co-conspirators concealed the fact the DC Solar was losing money. He used new investors’ money to pay the promised lease revenue that old investors expected. His modus operandi was a classic Ponzi scheme.
