TAMPA, Fla.—Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that she was taking legal action against the solar panel company Modern Concepts Solar (MC Solar), stating its three founders—two of whom are convicted felons—violated state consumer protection laws after hundreds of scamming complaints sparked an investigation.
Ms. Moody said on Nov. 7 that the investigation revealed the company founders—Armando Almirall, Raman Chopra, and Michael Crowder—had “conducted extremely deceptive and unfair trade practices” to induce and scam hundreds of Floridians into signing large, expensive contracts for work that were either never performed or left uncompleted.
Third-party contractors, such as roofers and electricians, were also left unpaid, according to the attorney general.
Meanwhile, MC Solar’s founders were collecting the money from the contracts, paying themselves and their family members, and “living luxury lifestyles,” she said.
Ms. Moody’s office made the filing in the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, arguing MC Solar violated several Florida statutes, including the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Florida Home Solicitation Sale Act.
Her team is seeking civil penalties and financial retribution and she said, “In addition to the civil action, we’re also looking at this criminally.”
Ms. Moody is also prepared to pursue any additional actions with her office’s federal counterparts if necessary.
“These bad actors were liening [customers’] homes,” she said, also referring to the defendants as gremlins. “So, they didn’t perform the work. They didn’t follow through on what they promised. The homeowners were on the hook for paying these large amounts.
“And then, they would lien their homes at the same time and then try to convince them to sign different financing agreements at a higher rate.”
A lien is a legal claim filed by a lender to leverage a piece of property, like a home, as collateral against an unpaid debt, which can result in the foreclosure of a home.
She also confirmed that while a complaint for injunction was filed against only one company, several other solar panel firms in the state are also currently under investigation for similar malpractices.
“My primary goal is to shut these businesses down, take away licenses, and make sure they cannot take advantage of other people,” she said.
‘Shining Lights’ on Solar Scams
More than 422 victims reportedly filed complaints against MC Solar within the past two years to the Attorney General’s Office, the Better Business Bureau, and the Florida Department of Agriculture, and Consumer Services, according to the filed complaint.Many of them, Ms. Moody said, were from seniors who had very little understanding of what they were signing. Members of the military, military spouses and veterans were also among the victims.
“I’m really proud about this, this dedicated, diligent team of attorneys and investigators,” Ms. Moody said.
“It is kind of ironic that you are the ones that were shining lights on this solar company and bringing sunshine to what they were doing and in the darkest of ways. So I am so grateful to my Consumer Protection Division.”
The solar panel industry has continued to capture the attention and business of Floridians, many of whom adopt it, seeing it as an environmentally-friendly way to lower or even possibly eliminate their electric bill from big companies like Florida Power and Light.
One of the most common forms of installation is to put them on the roof of a home, which can require the refurbishment of the roof.
“Aggressive” sales tactics and misrepresentation of facts—such as promising 25-year warranties, tax credits or incentives up to 30 percent, and streamlined permitting, installation, and connection to the electrical grid—were used by the company to get customers to sign the expensive contracts and solar loans, according to the complaint.
Customers like John Altepeter, who appeared with Ms. Moody, did not end up with the green financial relief they were expecting.
Sold on the promise that the company could provide deals for veterans like himself, he hired MC Solar to install both a roof and solar panels.
The new roof, he said, was left unfinished with spots that, if left alone, would leak water into the house. He waited 40 days for the company to come back and finish the job.
Once the new roof was completed in preparation for the solar panels, his payments for the solar equipment started coming in.
“I’m paying electric, he said. ”I’m paying solar, And eventually, it got to the point where they got the solar on. They didn’t complete the project. So now I’m left with a solar system that only works partially. It’s not completed. The software to monitor it, I don’t have.”
Felons From the Start
Ms. Moody also said that two of the three founders being charged were convicted felons and served prison time.While she did not name names, she told the media that one of the founders had been involved in a Ponzi scheme, and another had been involved with a scheme involving gold coins. The third was an attorney.
While they were not the licensed contractor that they had partnered with, she said, they had previously been involved in schemes.
“We don’t want them ever to do business in Florida again,” she said.
Ms. Moody gave praise to Floridians and investigative reporters who helped bring the issue to her office’s attention.
“The only way we can stop these practices is again by people bringing it to our attention, filing complaints so that we can see if this is, in fact, a company or an individual that’s engaged in false and deceptive practices and if Floridians will do that it helps us do our jobs better,” she said.
“So if you feel that you have been a victim of a scam, you can report it to your local law enforcement agency.”
And she gave a warning to all other would-be scammers.
“If you are in the state of Florida, and you are looking to hide behind a business to take people’s money and use deceptive practices and scam them, you might want to consider moving out of Florida.
“I have shown time and time again that we will take civil action when necessary.”
According to the complaint, MC Solar operated from March 2021 through December 2022. Mr. Almirall’s role with the company was terminated on or about Aug. 10, 2022.
Mr. Crowder then resigned on Nov. 11, 2022, leaving Mr. Chopra to continue managing the company.
MC Solar reportedly closed in early 2023.
Attempts were made by The Epoch Times to reach out to the company’s former officers but there was no response.
