Tech Entrepreneur Sued Over $25 Million Lab Project Ponzi Scheme

Joe Firmage, an entrepreneur who claimed to have devised a new aerospace propulsion technology concept, allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme to solicit investments by misrepresenting that the project had been awarded federal contracts, according to a Utah federal lawsuit filed by his backers.

Firmage and his three named codefendants allegedly defrauded investors of $25 million, which they claimed they sought for the stated purpose of financing the lab’s operations until the government contract funds were ready to be disbursed, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in US District Court for the District of Utah.

Firmage’s lab project had allegedly ...