Former Georgia waste-to-energy consultant indicted in racketeering, forgery scheme

Georgia’s Office of the Attorney General announced May 4 that the state’s Prosecution Division has indicted Clarence Dean Alford, a former member of the Board of Regents representing Georgia’s 4th Congressional District, for one count of racketeering, one count of criminal attempt, one count of computer forgery, and five counts of forgery in the second degree.

Georgia’s Rockdale County Superior Court returned the indictment on May 4.

According to The Augusta Chronicle, “Alford, an engineer and former state legislator, negotiated with Augusta, [Georgia], officials for several years to build a $68 million waste-to-energy plant at the [city’s] landfill that never materialized.

“Doing business as Allied Energy, Alford said the ‘Augusta Waste-to-Energy’ facility would convert garbage to biodiesel pellets, and investors sank millions into the scheme and others involving solar.”

"Acts of fraud and corruption have no place in Georgia’s state government,” Deputy Attorney General for the Prosecution Division John Fowler says. “Those who are trusted to be public servants must discharge their duties ethically and honestly, and when they do not, this office and our law enforcement partners will hold them accountable.”

Alford is alleged to have exploited a common industry practice referred to in the financial services sector as “factoring.” Factoring is a financial transaction in which a business may sell its accounts receivable to a third party at a discount. The goal of Alford’s scheme was to obtain approximately $1.7 million by selling fake accounts receivable invoices valued at approximately $2.2 million. As part of his scheme, Alford created fake invoices, contracts and other documents to show that his company was owed money from state agencies. He also forged the signatures of state employees on those contracts and other documents. Alford was, at the time, a member of the state Board of Regents, and he used that position to further his fraud schemes, the state says. The Board of Regents is the body with the responsibility of overseeing the University System of Georgia, which is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. Alford resigned from the Board of Regents in October 2019.

These crimes are punishable as follows:

• Racketeering: 5-20 years, and/or fine up to $25,000
• Criminal attempt (to commit theft by taking of value exceeding $25,000): 1-10 years and/or fine up to $50,000
• Computer forgery: 1-15 years, and/or fine up to $50,000
• Forgery in the second degree: 1-5 years and fine up to $100,000

This case is the product of a joint investigation by the Office of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity and White Collar Crimes Section and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The University System of Georgia and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement assisted in this joint investigation.