Federal prosecutors have charged the owner of a bankrupt dairy business in Pennsylvania with defrauding some $60 million from members of the Amish and Mennonite religious communities, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Justice Department said that Philip Riehl, the owner of Trickling Springs Creamery LLC in Chambersburg, Penn., perpetrated a Ponzi scheme in which he raised tens of millions of dollars of investments from community members. He then diverted those funds into the creamery, as well as solicited direct investments in the business without informing them of its mounting financial problems, according to the complaint filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. Riehl, an accountant, was unable to pay back his investors after Trickling Springs filed for bankruptcy in December. “Riehl presented himself as a trusted member of their religious community, only to betray that trust and swindle them out of tens of millions of dollars,” said U.S. Attorney William McSwain. “It is only natural for members of a tightly knit community to want to take care of one another, but Riehl did not care about anyone but himself.” Riehl is facing charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 45 years in prison and a $5.5 million fine, the Justice Department said.
