Sherbacow pleads guilty to wire fraud, awaits sentencing
In Washington, Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office announced that Bryan Sherbacow, founder and former CEO of a sustainable fuel company, Alder Energy LLC dba Alder Fuels, pleaded guilty today one count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to embezzle at least $5.9 million from the company and to defraud several investors out of $15 million. Sherbacow is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
According to court documents, between 2021 and 2022, 55, of Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C., defrauded the company he co-founded by transferring company funds without authorization to his personal bank account and by making unauthorized personal expenditures from a company bank account. Sherbacow attempted to conceal his actions by, among other things, emailing altered bank statements and other falsified financial records to the company’s outside accounting firm and members of the company’s board. To raise additional funds for the company, Sherbacow also sent or caused to be sent altered bank statements and other falsified financial records to prospective and current investors. As an example, the federal officials detailed that Mr. Sherbacow caused a false and fabricated bank statement to be sent to two investors, in which Sherbacow intentionally removed transactions showing transfers from the company bank account to his personal bank account and falsified account balance information to make it appear that the company possessed more cash on hand than it possessed, due in part to the unauthorized transfer of funds. He also caused a balance sheet containing false and misleading financial information to be sent to another investor.
In at least partial reliance on the fabricated bank statement and false and misleading financial information, three investors collectively invested approximately $15 million. according to the Justice Department.
