Promoter of bogus green energy firm sent to prison for $54M Ponzi scheme
PHILADELPHIA >> A Colorado man is headed to federal prison on charges he promoted a bogus green energy firm based in Lower Merion.
Wayde McKelvy, 59, of Aurora, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to 18 years in prison and five years’ supervised released on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to engage in security fraud.
The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Joel Slomsky who also ordered McKelvy to pay $37 million in restitution. McKelvy was accused of operating a $54 million Ponzi scheme in one of the largest green energy frauds in U.S. history, according Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.
“This case is a classic example of the warning: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” Williams said. “McKelvy is nothing more than a twenty-first century snake oil salesman, with all of the trappings to make him appear to be a legitimate businessman. The defendant is clearly a danger to the investing public and deserves to be in prison for a very long time, as the government demonstrated at trial.”
McKelvy was convicted of the charges at a trial in October 2018.
At trial, prosecutors established that McKelvy and his co-conspirators ran an elaborate Ponzi scheme operating as Mantria Corporation, which received more than $54 million in fraudulently obtained new investor funds. The group promised investors huge returns, as high as 484%, for securities investments in supposedly profitable business ventures in real estate and green energy.
In reality, prosecutors alleged, Mantria, based in the Bala Cynwyd section of Lower Merion, was a classic Ponzi scheme in which new investor money was used to pay “returns” to early investors, and the business generated meager revenues and no actual profits.
To induce investors to invest money, prosecutors alleged McKelvy and his co-conspirators repeatedly made fraudulent representations and material omissions about the economic state of Mantria. McKelvy also promoted himself as a financial wizard through aggressive marketing tactics, even though he had little financial acumen and was an unlicensed securities salesman, prosecutors alleged.
McKelvy operated what he called “Speed of Wealth” clubs, which advertised on television, radio and the internet, held seminars for prospective investors, and promised to make them rich. During those seminars and other programs, McKelvy lied to prospective investors to dupe them into investing in Mantria, according to prosecutors.
When the Securities Exchange Commission shut down Mantria in November 2009, the pyramid scheme collapsed and was exposed.
McKelvy’s co-conspirators, Troy Wragg and Amanda Knorr, who met as Temple University students, were previously sentenced for their involvement in the scheme to 22 years and 2½ years in prison, respectively, prosecutors said.
“Wayde McKelvy didn’t care about green energy. The only ‘green’ on his mind was money,” said Michael J. Driscoll, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “At his bogus financial seminars, he actively and enthusiastically duped people into investing in Mantria, even urging them to liquidate retirement funds and other assets to do so. When the teetering Ponzi scheme finally collapsed, many victims were left financially devastated.
“It’s the FBI’s duty to hold scammers like McKelvy and his coconspirators accountable for the serious damage they’ve done,” Driscoll added.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Livermore and Sarah Wolfe. The SEC provided assistance during the investigation, officials said.
“McKelvy is nothing more than a twenty-first century snake oil salesman, with all of the trappings to make him appear to be a legitimate businessman.”
— Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams