Ever wanted a replica of Burt Reynolds’ Pontiac Trans Am from the movie “Smokey and the Bandit” — once owned by the actor himself? How about a mint condition Austin-Healey, Bentley Continental or Ford Model T?
They’re just a few of the 149 luxury, classic and performance vehicles that will be up for sale in Woodland on Saturday as federal authorities auction off the fleet, seized as part of a civil action involving what’s being called a “massive fraud scheme” by DC Solar Solutions, a now-defunct Benicia solar company.
Saturday’s live auction begins at 9 a.m. at Apple Towing, 550 N. Pioneer Ave. in Woodland. The public is invited to preview the vehicles there Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Click here to view the full auction catalog: appletowing.hibid.com/catalog/185288/u-s–marshals–live—online-webcast–auction-10-26-2019/
Ten of the vehicles were displayed Wednesday outside the Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento, where McGregor Scott, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, outlined the asset forfeiture laws that allowed law enforcement to seize the cars from DC Solar’s owners, Jeffrey and Paulette Carpoff.
These luxury cars are among 149 vehicles that will be auctioned off in Woodland on Saturday in an asset-forfeiture action. Lauren Keene/Enterprise photo
A stipulation between the Carpoffs and the government called for the seizure for liquidation at auction, the proceeds of which will be used to compensate the fraud victims in the event of a conviction. Absent a conviction, the funds will revert to the owners.
“This is a classic use of our asset forfeiture powers,” Scott said.
Jennifer Crane of the U.S. Marshals Service’s asset forfeiture division, which conducted the seizure, called it “the largest single-owner car collection that we’ve seized.”
The press conference came a day after two defendants in the federal case pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges stemming from their roles in the alleged Ponzi-like scheme, in which DC Solar’s investors allegedly were bilked of an estimated $1 billion.
Ronald J. Roach, 53, of Walnut Creek; and Jospeh W. Bayliss, face federal prison time at their January sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, where Roach also admitted to a securities fraud count. Both have agreed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation, Scott said.
Federal prosecutors say that between 2011 and 2018, DC Solar manufactured mobile solar generator units (MSG) — solar generators that were mounted on trailers.
“The company touted the versatility and environmental sustainability of the MSGs and claimed that they were used by cell phone companies to provide emergency power to cell towers in the case of a power failure,” authorities said in a news release. “They were also claimed to be used to power lights at sporting and other events.”
Prosecutors said DC Solar solicited investors by promising favorable federal tax benefits associated with investments in alternative energy, then structured the transactions in order to maximize the investors’ tax benefits. Investors bought the MSGs without ever taking possession of them, paying a portion of the sales price and financing the balance with the company, then leasing them back to the company for lease to third parties.
“A portion of the lease revenue would be used to pay the investors’ debts to the company and to the investors,” authorities said. “The third‑party leases, however, generated little income and the company paid early investors with funds contributed by later investors.”
Court documents allege that Roach, a certified public accountant, provided accounting and tax services to the solar energy company, tricking investors by preparing years’ worth of financial statements that the investments as revenue earned from the MSG rentals.
“Roach and his co-conspirators used those fraudulent financial statements to hide from investors the company’s use of later investor payments to pay financial obligations the company made to earlier investors — in a classic, Ponzi-like scheme,” authorities said.
Also pleading guilty Monday was Bayliss, a general contractor and electrician who provided services to DC Solar, to charges of conspiring with Roach and others in the scheme by preparing false reports about the MSGs that were sold to investors.
“Bayliss admitted that, for at least two years, he signed many of those false reports knowing that the MSGs associated with them did not exist, and knowing investors would rely on those false reports,” authorities said, adding that Bayliss admitted to destroying evidence in the case upon a co-conspirator’s orders.
The Sacramento Bee reported on Tuesday that the Carpoffs currently do not face charges in the federal case.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene