Entrepreneur accused of swindling investors in jatropha farm deal

In Oregon, the owner of Gold Star Farms—a company based in Ghana allegedly set up to grow jatropha and produce biodiesel—is being tried for fraud after having supposedly swindled more than $1 million from Christian investors in a scheme that federal prosecutors say never intended to actually produce biofuel. The defendant’s attorney says the accused instead was swindled by a “real” con artist who was the real ringleader. One witness said the accused spent money “like a drunk sailor