FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two Arkansas men were found guilty by a federal jury on Friday, September 3 for wire fraud and money laundering after convincing investors to fund a "revolutionary" wind turbine design and instead using most of the money for personal use.
According to the Department of Justice, 46-year-old Jody Douglas Davis and 64-year-old Phillip Vincent Ridings formed two companies in Arkansas and Texas to develop a wind farm in Elm Springs, Arkansas.
Davis and Ridings conspired with others as early as June 2014 to obtain money investors with the belief the money would be used to build a "revolutionary wind turbine design" in Arkansas, Iowa, and other states.
The two claimed their technology could "produce more energy than the traditional three-blade turbines" that most wind farms use, according to a report by MarketWatch.
They also told investors that the Department of Defense "expressed strong interest" in Dragonfly Industries' wind turbines and that a prototype was nearly complete. None of that turned out to be true.
Evidence presented at the trial shows the pair used most of the $700,000 for personal expenses. The two reportedly used that money to buy houses, cars and trips to Disney World.
Davis and Ridings have been found guilty of wire fraud, aiding and abetting wire fraud, money laundering, and aiding and abetting money laundering.
Another man, Cody Fell, pled guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion in December 2018 and will be sentenced on September 17. No sentencing date has been scheduled for Davis and Ridings.