Vegas man gets prison time in biodiesel scheme

A Las Vegas man was sentenced Friday to 30 months in federal prison for his role in an international scheme to generate and sell fraudulent biodiesel credits.

Alex Jariv, 28, also was ordered to pay a share of $6.3 million in restitution, forfeit up to $6 million in cash and assets, and serve three years of supervised release after prison.

Jariv — who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, make false statements and launder monetary instruments — is the third defendant sentenced to prison in a case prosecuted jointly by the Justice Department in Washington and the Nevada U.S. attorney's office.

Earlier this year his father, James Jariv, 64, was ordered to spend 10 years behind bars, and Nathan Stoliar, 64, of Australia, was given a two-year prison term.

"We simply will not tolerate and will vigorously prosecute schemes like this one, that defraud a program designed to strengthen our nation's petroleum independence and improve our air quality," said Assistant Attorney General John Cruden of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden added: "Through the tenacious work of our investigators and prosecutors, we also were able to seize and forfeit millions of dollars from numerous bank accounts, as well as real property in Nevada and California, jewelry and other assets."

The scheme, which stretched to Canada and Australia, took advantage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, authorities said.

The law created federally funded programs that provided monetary incentives for the production and use of renewable fuels such as biodiesel in the United States.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.