Burdett receives 18 months in prison, ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution for biodiesel RIN, tax fraud

The owner of Indian River Biodiesel in Fort Pierce, Florida—Christopher Burdett—was sentenced May 29 to serve 18 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release, and to pay more than $2.8 million in restitution and a $150,000 fine.

Burdett previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and to file false claims.

Burdett received the prison sentence, fine and restitution for his role in a scheme that generated over $7 million in fraudulent renewable identification number (RIN) credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard program and sought over $6 million in fraudulent tax credits connected to the purported production of biodiesel.

When reporting the number of gallons it produced to the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. EPA, Burdett and General Manager Royce Gillham vastly overstated the company’s production volume to generate more credits.

When auditors sought more details from the company, Burdett and Gillham provided false information about fuel production and customers. 

Gillham was previously sentenced to 37 months in prison for his role in the scheme.

The EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and IRS-CI investigated the case.

On April 7, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

The fraud division is focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people.

The justice department’s work to combat fraud supports President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within federal benefit programs.