LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME



[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]

Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

Get weekly updates
RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Stripe

Donate via Paypal

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

News Watch Home

Court documents: Elm Springs wind farm was fraud scheme 

Credit:  Man pleads guilty in Elm Springs wind farm case | Adam Roberts, Digital Media Manager | www.4029tv.com ~~

ELM SPRINGS, Ark. – A Springdale businessman involved with a failed proposal to build a wind farm in Elm Springs, pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the plan last week.

From 2014-2016, Cody Fell and Dragonfly Industries collected money for a proposed wind farm in Elm Springs. 40/29 News reported when industry experts strongly criticized the plan, saying it wouldn’t work and calling it “physically impossible.” City voters rejected the wind farm in March 2016.

Court documents filed in Cody Fell’s plea agreement describe the Elm Springs wind farm as “a scheme to defraud investors.”

In June 2014, Fell “used material false and fraudulent pretenses, misrepresentations and promises” to get tens of thousands of dollars from investors to pay for what Fell said was a “wind study” at a site in Elm Springs.

In reality, Fell planned to use the money to pay rent and buy furniture, a boat and a lifetime hunting license.

After receiving that money, Fell then falsely told another investor that Dragonfly Industries owed an engineering firm about $300,000 for testing. When the investor paid up, Fell and two others split the money between themselves.

Fell also pretended he needed $13,900 from an investor to buy blueprints from an engineering firm, but really used most of the money to buy a new truck.

In all, Fell personally received a total of $191,530 from the scheme, according to the plea.

Because Fell and the people with Dragonfly Industries wired money to each other and because Fell worked to conceal his income from the IRS, he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion.

Together, those penalties include a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Fell agreed to pay restitution to investors as part of his guilty plea.

After voters rejected the wind farm in 2016, the Arkansas Securities Commissioner filed a cease and desist order against Dragonfly Industries. It found that Dragonfly and CEO Jody Davis committed security fraud when it didn’t tell investors about Davis’ 2009 conviction in Oklahoma for wire fraud and money laundering, and when Davis misled investors about a possible $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Source:  Man pleads guilty in Elm Springs wind farm case | Adam Roberts, Digital Media Manager | www.4029tv.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Contributions
   Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)
Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI M TG TS G Share

Tag: Complaints


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook Wind Watch on Linked In

Wind Watch on Mastodon Wind Watch on Truth Social

Wind Watch on Gab Wind Watch on Bluesky