Utah biodiesel execs linked to polygamous group remain jailed, Aug. 2018

[EuTuCroquet?]

Utah biodiesel execs linked to polygamous group stay jailed :: WRAL.com

Two Salt Lake City biodiesel executives linked to a polygamous group will stay in jail after prosecutors argued they could flee to Turkey if released ahead of trial in an alleged $511 million tax credit scheme.

The men have access private jets, millions of dollars stashed abroad and an unidentified federal law-enforcement contact who apparently tipped them off ahead of a raid, special assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Goemaat said at a hearing on Wednesday.

"There are very real safety concerns for witnesses in this case," she said.

Washakie Renewable Energy CFO Isaiah Kingston's attorney said the prosecutor's allegations are false hearsay.
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A lawyer for his brother, company CEO Jacob Kingston, asked for a detention hearing next week so he can secure defense attorneys from Washington, D.C.

The men are charged with creating fake production records to get renewable-fuel tax credits from 2010 to 2016, then laundering the proceeds. The company once described itself as the largest producer of clean burning and sustainable biodiesel in the state.

Prosecutors said both men are members of the northern Utah-based Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group, which practices polygamy and owns hundreds of businesses.
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[EuTuCroquet?]

Utah defendants in alleged Kingston Group fraud were tipped off to 2016 federal raid, paid bribes, were on way to Turkey, prosecutors say

The defendants accused in a $511 million fraud scheme destroyed evidence in anticipation of a 2016 raid on a home and businesses with ties to a polygamous sect, prosecutors said in court papers unsealed Tuesday.

That raid by FBI and IRS agents targeted a home and offices of Kingston Group members. Federal prosecutors wrote that shelves had been emptied and computer hard drives had been wiped before agents arrived.

“The investigation has not revealed how the defendants learned that the government obtained sealed search warrants,” the court document reads, “but multiple witnesses have stated that defendants Jacob Kingston and Lev Aslan Dermen talked of having law enforcement contacts willing to provide them with information about ongoing covert investigations.”
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Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune IRS agents raid the property of several Kingston Clan properties, including the offices at 2950 S. Main St. in Salt Lake City, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016.

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

bbm

Kingston brothers, accused in $511 million biofuels fraud scheme, to stay in jail for now

A federal judge said Wednesday that two brothers with ties to a polygamous sect, who are accused in a $511 million biofuels fraud scheme, will remain in jail.

However, Judge Brooke Wells set hearings to weigh whether to release the men later. Wells will consider releasing Isaiah Kingston at a hearing Friday. Jacob Kingston will return to Wells' Salt Lake City courtroom Sept. 5.

The two were indicted earlier this month on counts of fraud and money laundering related to a biofuel company, Washakie Renewable Energy, they ran. A third man, Lev Aslan Dermen, also was indicted. A federal judge in Los Angeles ordered him held pending trial during a hearing Tuesday.
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[SunVenus]

Well, well, well...the Kingston clan. Haven't heard that name in a while. I see they are doing their very best to be fine, upstanding, law-abiding members of the community.... *eyeroll*

Sorry for the sarcasm. Glad these jokers are caught and I hope they never see daylight again.