State stops fake investment scam in Mid-Missouri
A Mid-Missouri man is accused of taking nearly $200,000 from people he tricked into investing in a fake biodiesel plant near Fulton.
Secretary of State Jason Kander on Friday ordered Boyd Ware to stop his activities in Central Missouri Energy, LLC. Ware launched the company in 2006 with the idea of building a biodiesel plant in Fulton. Eight years later that has not happened and the state has said enough.
When ABC 17 News began looking for answers about this supposed scam, business records led us to Centralia.
ABC 17 News spoke with Ware who said he would not go on camera for legal reasons. However, he did answer some of our questions. He said the plant is not going to be built because of financial issues.
According to the cease and desist order, at least four Missouri residents invested at least $182,000 with Ware between 2006-2009.
We asked Ware what was happening to the investors.
“Well we are going to repay them,” said Ware. When we asked him when, he said it’s in the legal process now.
Kander said, “Not only did this company illegally sell investments, it used deceptive tactics to lure investors into what they thought was a promising investment and withheld the truth about where funds truly went.”
That is something Ware did not tell ABC 17 News.
However, according to the order, CME funds from investors were used to pay more than $4,000 for Ware to make trips to Mexico, at least $172,000 to an alleged fake attorney and that attorney’s ex wife, and $50,000 to a second company owned by Ware.
