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			{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauer, Ari}}
	[[Category:High-Profile_Federal_Offenders]]		[[Category:High-Profile_Federal_Offenders]]
	[[Category:Wire_Fraud]]		[[Category:Wire_Fraud]]

Orderly: Create article: Ari Lauer (federal case)

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Create article: Ari Lauer (federal case)

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{{Infobox Person
|name = Ari J. Lauer
|birth_place = California
|residence = Lafayette, California
|charges = Conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud (1 count), Bank fraud (12 counts), Wire fraud affecting a financial institution (10 counts)
|conviction_date = October 14, 2025 (guilty plea)
|sentence = 11 years 5 months (137 months) federal prison
|sentencing_date = March 9, 2026
|judge = Hon. Dale A. Drozd
|case_number = 2:23-cr-00220 (E.D. Cal.)
|facility = Federal Bureau of Prisons (designation pending)
|status = Incarcerated
|occupation = Attorney (inactive)
|known_for = Outside counsel to DC Solar
}}

'''Ari J. Lauer''' is an American former attorney from Lafayette, California. He served as outside counsel to DC Solar, a Benicia, California company that operated what federal prosecutors called the largest criminal fraud scheme in the history of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.<ref name="irs2026">Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. "DC Solar attorney sentenced to over 11 years in prison for his involvement in the DC Solar billion-dollar Ponzi scheme." March 10, 2026. https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/dc-solar-attorney-sentenced-to-over-11-years-in-prison-for-his-involvement-in-the-dc-solar-billion-dollar-ponzi-scheme</ref> Lauer advised the company from approximately 2009 to January 2019.<ref name="irs2026"/>

DC Solar sold mobile solar generators to investors and claimed to lease them to third parties. The generators were marketed as a vehicle for federal solar tax credits and lease income. Most of the claimed rental revenue did not exist. New investor money was cycled back to earlier investors and disguised as lease payments. Investors put in roughly $759.4 million between March 2011 and December 2018. Related transactions exceeded $912 million.<ref name="irs2026"/><ref name="abajournal2026">American Bar Association. "Solar company's outside counsel sentenced to over 11 years in prison for role in $1B Ponzi scheme." ABA Journal, March 12, 2026. https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/solar-companys-outside-counsel-gets-over-11-years-for-role-in-1-billion-ponzi-scheme</ref>

A federal grand jury indicted Lauer on October 5, 2023.<ref name="cc2023">Contra Costa News. "DC Solar Attorney Indicted in the DC Solar Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme." October 10, 2023. https://contracosta.news/2023/10/10/dc-solar-attorney-indicted-in-the-dc-solar-billion-dollar-ponzi-scheme/</ref> He pleaded guilty on October 14, 2025, one week before his trial was set to begin, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, 12 counts of bank fraud, and 10 counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution.<ref name="irs2026"/> On March 9, 2026, U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd sentenced him to 11 years and 5 months in federal prison.<ref name="irs2026"/><ref name="cbs2026">CBS San Francisco. "California attorney convicted in DC Solar $1 billion Ponzi scheme gets 11 years in prison." March 10, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/dc-solar-ponzi-scheme-california-attorney-ari-lauer-11-years-prison/</ref>

== Background ==

Lauer was a licensed California attorney.<ref name="cc2023"/> He lived in Lafayette, in Contra Costa County. He was 59 at the time of his 2023 indictment and 61 when he was sentenced in 2026.<ref name="cc2023"/><ref name="abajournal2026"/>

His legal practice included corporate and business advisory work. From about 2009 he took on DC Solar as a client and served as the company's outside counsel.<ref name="irs2026"/> He held that role for roughly a decade, until January 2019. During that period he provided what the government described as legal and business advice concerning the company's operations.<ref name="irs2026"/>

The U.S. Attorney's office said his standing as a lawyer mattered to the scheme. His involvement "gave the scheme legitimacy and diminished any suspicion the investors might have had."<ref name="irs2026"/> U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said, "Without the participation of Lauer, the DC Solar fraud scheme would never have been operational."<ref name="abajournal2026"/>

== DC Solar ==

DC Solar Solutions Inc. was based in Benicia, California. Jeff Carpoff, a former auto mechanic, founded the company in Concord in 2008.<ref name="cbs2026"/> He ran it with his wife, Paulette Carpoff.<ref name="cbs2026"/>

The company built mobile solar generators. These were trailer-mounted units that paired solar panels with batteries. DC Solar sold them to investors. The investors then leased the units back to DC Solar, which said it would sublease them to third parties such as cell carriers and sports venues. The product qualified for federal solar tax credits. That credit was the core selling point.<ref name="abajournal2026"/>

The business attracted large institutional money. Among the investors was Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which put roughly $340 million into the generators.<ref name="ibt2019">International Business Times. "Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Funded Ponzi Scam Without Knowing It." 2019. https://www.ibtimes.com/warren-buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-funded-ponzi-scam-frauds-lavish-lifestyle-without-2798237</ref> Federal agents raided DC Solar in December 2018. The company entered bankruptcy soon after.<ref name="cbs2026"/>

== The Scheme ==

DC Solar claimed to have built about 17,000 generators with a stated value near $2.5 billion. The real number was far lower. Investigators found that thousands of the units never existed.<ref name="abajournal2026"/> The company sold the same physical generators to multiple investors and pointed to inventory that was not there.<ref name="abajournal2026"/>

Investors never took possession of their units. DC Solar held them and said it was collecting sublease income from outside customers. That income was largely fictional. Between March 2011 and December 2018, about 94 to 95 percent of the lease revenue on the company's books was intercompany transfers dressed up as new investor money.<ref name="irs2026"/>

This is the mechanic of a [[Ponzi scheme]]. Money from new investors paid the returns promised to earlier investors. There was no underlying business generating those returns at the scale claimed. The Carpoffs spent investor funds on personal luxuries, including real estate, a private jet, and jewelry.<ref name="cbs2026"/>

Jeff Carpoff pleaded guilty in 2020. In November 2021 he was sentenced to 30 years in prison and ordered to pay $790.6 million in restitution.<ref name="abajournal2026"/><ref name="cbs2026"/> Paulette Carpoff was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months.<ref name="cbs2026"/> A former chief financial officer and other associates were also convicted.<ref name="abajournal2026"/>

== Lauer's Role and Charges ==

Prosecutors said Lauer helped paper over the gap between what DC Solar promised investors and what the business actually produced. In June 2012, Lauer, Jeff Carpoff, and others met to discuss the company's failure to generate enough third-party lease revenue to meet its obligations to investors. The conspirators agreed to conceal that shortfall from current and prospective investors.<ref name="cc2023"/>

To explain large movements of money between company accounts, the group created a "re-rent" arrangement. In 2014 they produced a re-rent agreement and backdated it to 2011. The transfers it purported to document were in fact new investor money being routed to earlier investors.<ref name="cc2023"/> Lauer also took part in preparing sublease agreements that carried concealed addendums. Those addendums changed the terms of the contracts in ways that were hidden from investors.<ref name="cc2023"/>

The October 5, 2023 indictment charged Lauer with 23 counts: conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud affecting a financial institution.<ref name="cc2023"/> He pleaded guilty on October 14, 2025, with no written plea agreement. He admitted one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, 12 counts of bank fraud, and 10 counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution.<ref name="irs2026"/>

The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General.<ref name="irs2026"/><ref name="fdic2026">FDIC Office of Inspector General. "DC Solar Attorney Sentenced to over 11 Years in Prison for His Involvement in the DC Solar Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme." March 2026. https://www.fdicoig.gov/news/investigations-press-releases/dc-solar-attorney-sentenced-over-11-years-prison-his-involvement</ref> Assistant U.S. Attorneys Audrey B. Hemesath and Nicholas M. Fogg prosecuted the case.<ref name="irs2026"/>

== Sentencing ==

U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd sentenced Lauer on March 9, 2026. The term was 11 years and 5 months, or 137 months, in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.<ref name="irs2026"/><ref name="cbs2026"/>

The case stands as the largest criminal fraud prosecution in the history of the Eastern District of California.<ref name="cc2023"/> Lauer was the last major figure charged in it.

His conviction ended his legal career. On December 19, 2025, the State Bar of California placed him on involuntary inactive status, which barred him from practicing law in the state.<ref name="cbs2026"/>

== Frequently Asked Questions ==
{{FAQSection/Start}}
{{FAQ|question=Who is Ari Lauer?|answer=Ari J. Lauer is a former California attorney from Lafayette who served as outside counsel to DC Solar from approximately 2009 to January 2019. DC Solar ran a roughly $1 billion Ponzi scheme built on mobile solar generators. Lauer was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud, and wire fraud for his role in concealing the fraud from investors.}}
{{FAQ|question=What did Ari Lauer do?|answer=Lauer helped DC Solar conceal that it was not generating real third-party lease revenue. He took part in a 2012 meeting where conspirators agreed to hide the revenue shortfall, helped create a backdated "re-rent" arrangement to explain transfers of investor money, and prepared sublease agreements with concealed addendums. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, 12 counts of bank fraud, and 10 counts of wire fraud.}}
{{FAQ|question=How long is Ari Lauer's sentence?|answer=U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd sentenced Lauer on March 9, 2026, to 11 years and 5 months, which is 137 months, in federal prison.}}
{{FAQ|question=What was the DC Solar scheme?|answer=DC Solar sold mobile solar generators to investors for federal solar tax credits and lease income. The company claimed about 17,000 generators worth near $2.5 billion, but thousands never existed. About 94 to 95 percent of the lease revenue on its books was new investor money disguised as rental income. Investors put in roughly $759.4 million, and related transactions exceeded $912 million.}}
{{FAQ|question=How much money was involved in the DC Solar fraud?|answer=Investors invested approximately $759.4 million between March 2011 and December 2018. Related transactions exceeded $912 million. Berkshire Hathaway alone invested about $340 million. Founder Jeff Carpoff was ordered to pay $790.6 million in restitution.}}
{{FAQ|question=Did Warren Buffett invest in DC Solar?|answer=Berkshire Hathaway, the company led by Warren Buffett, invested roughly $340 million in DC Solar generators. The investment was made for the federal solar tax credits and lease income the company promised. Berkshire and other investors faced losses after the scheme collapsed.}}
{{FAQ|question=When does Ari Lauer get out of prison?|answer=Lauer was sentenced on March 9, 2026, to 137 months. A release date depends on his Bureau of Prisons designation and any sentence credits, which were not public at the time of sentencing.}}
{{FAQ|question=What happened to the founders of DC Solar?|answer=Jeff Carpoff pleaded guilty in 2020 and was sentenced in November 2021 to 30 years in prison with $790.6 million in restitution. His wife, Paulette Carpoff, was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months. A former chief financial officer and other associates were also convicted.}}
{{FAQSection/End}}

== References ==

<references />

[[Category:High-Profile_Federal_Offenders]]
[[Category:Wire_Fraud]]
[[Category:Ponzi_Schemes]]
[[Category:White_Collar_Crime]]
[[Category:Currently Incarcerated]]

{{#seo:
|title=Ari Lauer - DC Solar Attorney, Billion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme Case | Prisonpedia
|title_mode=replace
|description=Ari J. Lauer was outside counsel to DC Solar, the largest fraud in Eastern District of California history. Sentenced to 11 years 5 months in March 2026. Full case file.
|keywords=Ari Lauer, Ari J. Lauer, DC Solar attorney, DC Solar Ponzi scheme, Jeff Carpoff, Paulette Carpoff, solar tax credit fraud, Eastern District California fraud, Dale Drozd
|type=ProfilePage
|site_name=Prisonpedia
|locale=en_US
|published_time=2026-06-03
|modified_time=2026-06-03
}}

{{MetaDescription|Ari J. Lauer, outside counsel to DC Solar, was sentenced to 11 years 5 months for his role in the billion-dollar DC Solar Ponzi scheme. Case file, charges, and sentencing on Prisonpedia.}}

Ari Lauer - Revision history

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