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SEC allegations levied against Rivera
Published Saturday, July 19, 2008
NATCHEZ — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint against the man who came to Natchez with the promise of a revolutionary biofuel technology.
The complaint names U.S. Sustainable Energy Corp. and its CEO John Rivera as defendants.
The complaint alleges that Rivera issued false or misleading press releases and oral statements about USSEC’s business and technology.
Some of those allegations say claims Rivera made about patents the company owned or would own were fraudulent. The suit also claims monetary values the company quoted to produce biofuel were false.
The complaint alleges Rivera said it cost USSEC 50 cents a gallon to produce biofuel.
Rivera, who is also listed as chairman and CEO of Sustainable Power Corporation in Baytown, Texas, dismissed the allegations as false and called the SEC’s claims a “witch hunt.”
He claims that a year-and-a-half ago representatives from the SEC were invited to USSEC’s Natchez facility to verify the biofuel production process first hand, but left before the demonstration could be completed.
“They came out there and when they saw what we were doing, they left so they could say they never witnessed it,” Rivera said. “We have certifications from independent laboratories verifying that we are doing everything we stated in those press releases.”
Katherine Addleman, regional director of the SEC’s Atlanta office, said the complaint was filed as a result of careful market analysis conducted by the agency over the past year, as well as input from third party sources.
“Every case is brought about following a thorough investigation conducted by the SEC to ensure that we are not making allegations we believe are unfounded,” she said. “We are alleging that Mr. Rivera was involved in some pretty pervasive fraud in connection with USSEC.”
Other allegations include that Rivera claimed the company had contracts through which it would sell its products, that the company had a fully operational plant and that when USSEC merged with another company its combined technology would be worth $9 to $12 billion.
A third party, Alice M. Price, was named as a relief defendant.
A relief defendant is someone who received goods or assets as a result of the illegal actions of others.
The complaint alleges Price — who reportedly lived with Rivera at the time — profited at least $721,000 by selling USSEC stock at artificially inflated prices after Rivera’s statements and press releases were made public.
The Securities and Exchange Commission wants all of the allegedly ill-gotten funds to be repaid with interest, as well as to ban Rivera from being an officer or director in a company or offering penny stocks.
Rivera first announced his intention to build a biofuel facility at the Adams County Port in February 2006.
In November of that year, he held a demonstration by allegedly powering Vidalia City Hall with a generator running his product.
USSEC bought a warehouse in December 2006, and company officials said the Natchez-based plant was supposed to house 200 fuel reactors, but it apparently never did.
A court date has not yet been scheduled, though Rivera said that he intends to fight the allegations.
“We are not settling,” he said.
A fraud lawsuit was filed by an investor against Rivera in 2007, and that suit is still pending in court.
Josh Hardwick of The North Channel Sentinel in Houston, Texas contributed to this report.
Comments
Posted by eyeinthesky (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 12:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
this is the same guy who financed Sheriff Brown's campain.
Posted by fire39212 (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 12:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh my goodness....Nothing like getting some free money is it?
Posted by ProNatchez (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just another snake oil salesman.
Posted by iconoclast (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If Rivera's claims about his process is true, then why isn't his company producing biofuel? They are doing absolutely nothing at the facility they bought down at the port. This guy is a fraud and his company a sham!
Posted by callinitlikeitis (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 11:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
hmmmm, so what is really going on down there at the port location....??
RIVERA, BROWN, fraud, port, money, hmmmm......
Posted by fire39212 (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 11:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Heck might be the meeting place for the pettycoat mafia. who knows...
Posted by texasranger (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Here we go again,another Enron,moron,s,city slickers spending thousands and thousands telling everybody what a big industry is gonna pull Natchez to the top,maybe this is another Dare To Be Great like came through Armstrong years back,I see millions just flowing out of Rentech already,their not lieing to us,cause they have a sign where IP used to have thiers, and it says RENTECH. Cool,but where is the monies that taxpayers are spending and the bio-poo.???or bio-gas or whatever he,s producing,it sounds like the G-men are after him for SS,aka Super Scam #6.We know the IRS and Securities commission don,t lie cause they want the fines you pay them. They don,t tell lies cause that,s how they make their paycheck by catching other crooks like them. Their all thick as thieves in a soybean field of buckshot mud,the whole lot..ha
Posted by texasranger (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 12:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When a deal is made always ask the dealer when do they get their money and when do you get yours. He always gets his first,and you get yours when the bio-bull is produced so he can make you rich.
Why would any self respecting idiot even on the brink of insanity believe that someone who makes millions wants to have a seminar or a teaching session,book,etc. So he can share his knowledge of how he made his wealth with you??
Aka Carlton Sheets,all the get rich quick buying up real estate and houses for $200 and selling them for $30,000 dollars. Why do carbon based life forms,humans with as least something moving in their brain, believe such tomfoolery is beyond me.He wants to make our town money and have jobs for us because he loves us,he duz. No kiddin realdee.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 1:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Let's see what the court says about this one before we put his head on a pike. We can get the pike ready, though.
I do think if folks are going to put up something about financing a political campaign about an office as important as sheriff they should offer more facts with their accusation.
Posted by dynahog (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 2:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"down at the port" ?
USSE moved out of the state of Mississippi last year. The operations are in Baytown, TX where they are making significant progress.
New commercial production units were installed there, and the are about to have 4 reactors operating.
They are working on SSTP debt financing up to $2 billion with L.Sole, S.A. (a private company from Spain) to build a 400-reactor biofuel plant, a 523 MW green power plant, and arrange to have a green steal foundry built next door.
They have initiated deals with Malaysia, Central America (Guatemala and Honduras), Dominican Republic, Haiti, and over in Europe (Spain where L.Sole is HQ'd, Norway) and all of Russia.
It's a long way from Natchez, MS activities.
Production at Baytown starts in less than 60 days when they plan to sell Biogasoline (BG-100) at $1 less than the cheapest gas price in the USA.
You can talk and drink all day long over what John Rivera and USSE used to be when in Natchez, MS.
They have traveled a very long way from those days in mid-2007 and earlier. Tremendous progress has been made.
Very significant partnerships have been made for Worldwide distribution of the Rivera Reactor technology.
Crude Oil days are limited.
Posted by Username (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 2:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I always thought it was kinda funny that at the USSEC website when you click to see the Natchez plant they have a picture of the "entire" port.
Posted by ksuplady15 (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 3:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Has anyone checked to see if there might be "midnight activity" there; such as "boat runners" from the gulf area coming up the Mississippi to "unload" products?
Posted by iconoclast (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 5:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope dynahog is right.
Posted by Razzmatazz (anonymous) on July 19, 2008 at 10:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like dynahog is an investor and has got all his money sucked up into this shyster.
Posted by vilou (anonymous) on July 20, 2008 at 11:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
dynahog, I have a couple of questions. If fuel can be produced in Baytown Texas, then why not Natchez Mississippi? The operation was setup at the port, why move it to Baytown? Why change the name of the operation? There were four reactors being set up in Natchez just like in Baytown. Read the Baytown Sun and see all the same things being said by John Riviera and tell me this is not a scam!
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