To distance it from the tree hugger association why not keep it simple and have it stand for

Not [the] Organization [of the] Petroleum Exporting Countries

fabricator, if you look up a couple of post you'll see a nice suggestion by weelliot,of: Natural Oil PROCESSING environmental Community, I do like this somewhat better. By the way, what is IMHO?
hheynow, I can always count on you for a funny, that's great!
~Harvey~

In My Humble Opinion.

Sorry, kind of obvious now, can you tell I don't text?

Unfortunately for the "cheap fuel" aspect, the more you promote it as cheap fuel, the more you're going to end up with competition for that cheap fuel... and supply and demand are going to take over, driving up the price of your cheap fuel.

Unfortunately that's true enough...I guess I'm just altruistic, you know.

Published Fri, 2008-02-08 15:34 Energy

United States Attorney Robert E. O'Neill has announced that Karl H. Rehberg, age 65, and Helen Svekis Rehberg, age 66, both formerly of Lakeland, Florida, pleaded guilty to charges arising from a biodiesel fuel scam they perpetrated in the 1990's. Karl Rehberg pleaded guilty to the indictment, which charged him with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised. Helen Rehberg pleaded
guilty to obstructing justice in connection with the scheme. She faces a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 and three years' supervised release.

According to court documents, in the early 1990's Karl Rehberg formed "NOPEC," a company which purported to be in the business of creating biodiesel fuel from waste cooking oil. From approximately 1992 to 1997, Karl and Helen Rehberg made false representations to investor-victims to entice them to invest in the business and purchase unregistered NOPEC stock. Specifically, Karl Rehberg lied when he told investors that NOPEC purchased waste cooking oil from local restaurants for a nominal fee, transported it to the NOPEC plant in Lakeland, and processed it into biodiesel fuel that could be used in vehicles and sold at a competitive price. In total, the Rehbergs were responsible for selling approximately $20.6 million in unregistered NOPEC securities to over 2500
investors in several states.

In late 1998, Karl and Helen Rehberg secretly fled the Tampa Bay area after they were advised that they were the targets of a grand jury probe into allegations of fraud involving NOPEC and after Karl Rehberg had begun plea negotiations with the United States Attorney's Office. They established several false identities and ultimately settled in Mesa, Arizona, where they were arrested on August 22, 2007.

So much for N.O.P.E.C.!

Can we get refunds for the T-shirts, ballcaps and bumperstickers we bought? (just kidding)

quote:

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. ~ Albert Einstein.

I guess Albert would agree that I'm unlimited!

$20m biodiesel scam perpetrators sentenced http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/1699/1/
Written by Giles Clark, London
Monday, 01 September 2008

Karl and Helen Rehberg were sentenced to five and two years imprisonment respectively last week (22nd August) for their involvement in a biodiesel scam in Lakeland, Florida in the 1990's. In addition to the custodial sentence US District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich ordered 65 year old Karl and 67 year old Helen to pay more than $20 million in restitution.

Both Rehbergs pleaded guilty in February 2008. Karl Rehberg pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with the fraudulent sale of unregistered securities in NOPEC, Inc., a Lakeland, Florida company that purported to convert used cooking oil from local restaurants and theme parks into biodiesel fuel. Helen Rehberg pleaded guilty to an Information charging her with obstruction of justice in connection with the Rehbergs' flight from justice in December 1998.

It was revealed in court that from 1992 to 1998 Karl Rehberg was the mastermind behind a fraudulent scheme in Lakeland to entice investors to put their money into a revolutionary new method for converting waste cooking oil into biodiesel fuel. As part of the scheme, Rehberg incorporated NOPEC and began building a plant on George Jenkins Boulevard in Lakeland. Unbeknownst to the investors in this venture, Rehberg had been sanctioned by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in 1973 for selling unregistered securities and he had never developed a new scientific process for the production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil.

Rehberg created and distributed sophisticated marketing materials and shareholder documents to the investor victims to give NOPEC the facade of legitimacy and to lull the investors into providing more and more funds for the venture. The RehbergS used investor funds for personal use and moved some of those funds into offshore accounts. In the end, more than 2800 investors from several states invested more than $20 million in NOPEC.

In 1998 the federal government began investigating allegations of fraud involving NOPEC and the RehbergS. Karl and Helen Rehberg fled the Tampa Bay area in December 1998 when Karl Rehberg was on the verge of entering into a plea agreement with the United States whereby he would plead guilty to unlawful sale of unregistered securities. The Rehbergs fled to the Southwest United States, ultimately settling in Mesa, Arizona. While they were fugitives from justice, the Rehbergs used false identities, establishing bank and credit card accounts in their assumed names. Karl Rehberg used the identity of a woman named Peggy Helms for some period of time. The Rehbergs were ultimately arrested in August 2007 after the Mesa Police Department received a tip that a suspicious married couple in their 60's were acting strangely during the course of their employment at a local business.

Sgt. Ryan Russell of the Mesa Police Department diligently followed a hunch after the Rehbergs identified themselves to him using their false names. Drawing upon bits and pieces of information he gathered over the course of several days and intensively searching the internet for clues, Sgt. Russell eventually found a website that featured a photo of Karl Rehberg and described the biodiesel scam in Lakeland, Florida. The Mesa Police Department made the arrests of the Rehbergs shortly thereafter.

The case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mesa, Arizona Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cherie Krigsman.