Federal prosecutors want to seize hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets from Washakie Renewable Energy and its owners, who have pleaded guilty in a biofuels fraud that took $511 million from the government.
The most valuable assets appear to belong to Washakie itself. The biofuel production facility in Plymouth, as well as assets it has in Texas, California, Turkey and Belize, could bring hundreds of millions of dollars. Jacob O. Kingston, the CEO who pleaded guilty Thursday, also has a $4 million home in Cottonwood Heights the government will take. Kingston also has a collection of sport and luxury cars that could be worth $2 or $3 million.
The U.S. Department of Justice also wants to take homes and businesses from others who didn’t necessarily participate in the fraud, but who may have received financing from the frauds proceeds.
This includes 25 homes and businesses and lots in Salt Lake County that the assessor says has a combined market value of $14.4.