The owner of a company that produces and sells renewable fuel and fuel credits pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to conspiracy for a scheme that generated over $7 million in fraudulent Environmental Protection Agency renewable fuels credits and sought over $6 million in fraudulent tax credits for the purported production of biodiesel.
Court documents say that Christopher Burdett, 59, owned a biofuel company based in Fort Pierce, Florida, that claimed to turn various feedstocks into biodiesel.
However, when reporting to the IRS and the EPA the number of gallons they produced, Burdett and his company vastly overstated their production volume to generate more credits. When auditors sought more information from the company, Burdett and general manager Royce Gillham, who was sentenced last year to 37 months in prison, provided false information about their fuel production and customers.
“The defendant’s fraud undermines the integrity of EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard and hurts farmers and refiners who follow the law,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “This guilty plea is another example of the Justice Department’s broader efforts to hold those accountable, like Burdett and Gillham, who defraud American taxpayers.”
Burdett pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and to file false claims. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months. The conspiracy count has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine whether to accept the plea agreement after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
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“The defendants compromised the core of a program designed to secure abundant renewable fuel. By claiming credit (RINs) for fuel they never produced or sold, the defendants not only defrauded American fuel producers and consumers but also compromised our energy security,” said Assistant Administrator Jeffrey A. Hall of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Lying to the federal government and to others under federal programs for profit is an elemental federal crime and intolerable in our society.”
The EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and IRS Criminal Investigations investigated the case.
“This was not a paperwork error or a regulatory misunderstanding — it was fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The defendant inflated production numbers to steal millions in fuel and tax credits, taking money straight from taxpayers. Working closely with our partners at EPA and IRS, we will continue to hold accountable anyone who lies, cheats, and tries to game federal programs for personal profit.”
A Fort Pierce biofuel company owner pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme involving millions in fake fuel and tax credits.
— US Attorney Reding Quiñones (@USAO_SDFL) February 5, 2026
This was not a mistake—it was fraud.
Working with EPA and IRS partners, we will hold accountable anyone who lies, cheats, and steals from taxpayers.
Federal… pic.twitter.com/KF9RdGcwsL
Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman of ENRD and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Funk for the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting this case.
“Fraudulent tax schemes erode trust in our tax system and harm every honest taxpayer,” said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, Florida Field Office. “Our mission is to ensure that those who attempt to exploit tax credits are identified and brought to justice, protecting the integrity of our nation’s tax laws.”
ENRD is a member of the Department of Justice Trade Fraud Task Force, a cross-agency law enforcement effort that also involves the Criminal and Civil Divisions’ Fraud Sections, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices nationwide.
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