Lubbock man accused of $40 million in green energy fraud

A Lubbock man, Jeff Gunselman, 29, is suspected of committing $40 million worth of wire fraud. Court records related to Gunselman's company, Absolute Fuels, were unsealed Monday, solving some of the mystery surrounding a mid-October federal raid at several Lubbock and South Plains locations. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 obligated fuel makers to sell a minimum 4 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2006, and a minimum 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. The renewable fuels, such as bio-diesel, were tracked by RIN or Renewable Identification Numbers. RINs could be traded or sold so that fuel makers could meet their federal obligations. Court records say in May of 2010, an employee challenged Gunselman about the sale of RINs that did not exist: "Gunselman took the employee out of earshot of the other employees and repeated his instruction to find someone to buy that quantity of RINs, stating 'This is in the pioneering stages and no one will ever know. We'll make the fuel later." However, efforts to make bio-diesel fuel at the company's Anton/Littlefield facility had failed, according to court records. Tests showed the fuel was unusable. Gunselman spent millions of dollars. Court records say Gunselman had 11 vehicles including a 2011 Bentley, and Shelby Cobra 427. He purchased a home in Boerne, Texas for $2.65 million. The company had purchased a private jet worth $2.5 million...more