Lawless Planet: A Polygamist Cult-Leader’s Billion-Dollar Biofuel Scam 194

We’ll be back soon with brand new episodes. In the meantime, we’re sharing an episode from our friends at Lawless Planet, hosted by Zach Goldbaum. Lawless Planet is a podcast about the scams, crimes, and cover-ups fueling the climate crisis, and the battle between those trying to save the planet…and those cashing in on its destruction. Today’s episode tells the story of the biggest biofuel scam in U.S. history. An unlikely duo – a polygamist cult leader and an Armenian mobster – spotted massive loopholes in America’s clean-energy tax credits and exploited them for over one billion dollars. They thought they’d pulled off the perfect con…until the FBI and EPA caught up, aided by a young woman who escaped the cult just in time. Special thanks to: Jeff Manuel, author of Ethanol: a Hemispheric History for the Future of Biofuels. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at Listen to Scamfluencers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/scamfluencers/ now. See Privacy Policy at and California Privacy Notice at .

You can listen to Lawless Planet: A Polygamist Cult-Leader’s Billion-Dollar Biofuel Scam 194 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Lawless Planet: A Polygamist Cult-Leader’s Billion-Dollar Biofuel Scam 194 is an episode from Scamfluencers by Audible.

This episode is 00:50:26 long.

This episode was published on Dec 29, 2025.

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