Case 5:20-cr-00048-EGS Document 1 Filed 01/29/20 Page 1 of 13

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

CRIMINAL NO.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DATE FILED:

v,

PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL

VIOLATIONS:
18 U.S.C. $ 371 (conspiracy to commit

securities fraud and wire fraud - I
count)
ls U.S.C. $S 78j(b) & 78ff and 17
C.F.R. $ 240.10b-5 (securities fraud - 1
count)
18 U.S.C. $ 1343 (wire fraud - I count)
18 U.S.C. $ 2 (aiding and abetting)
Notice of forfeiture

INFORMATION
COUNT ONE
THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY CHARGES THAT:
At all times material to this Information
Relevant

1.

and Entities

Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL ("RIEHL") was an accountant

operating as "Riehl Accounting," with offices in Bethel Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
As part of his accounting practice, defendant RIEHL provided accounting and tax preparation
services, catering primarily to his co-religionists in the Mennonite religious community

of

eastern and central Pennsylvania.

2.

In addition, since approximately the late 1990s, defendant PHILIP ELVIN

RIEHL operated an investment program (the "Riehl Investment Program"), whereby investors
would send funds to defendant RIEHL in exchange for a promised return of interest. Interest

 Case 5:20-cr-00048-EGS Document 1 Filed 01/29/20 Page 2 of 13

rates would be fixed or floating and could vary based on the size of the investment, the date

maturity, and the prime rate. Generally, investors were promised rates of return of about

of

4YzYo

or

5%. Defendant RIEHL and the Riehl Investment Program would use invested funds to make
loans to borrowers. Interest on the loans to borrowers would then purportedly be used to provide
the rate of return to investors.

3.

Investors in the Riehl Investment Program were generally members of the

Mennonite or Amish religious communities who desired a safe and secure investment for their
moneys, operated within their community and in a manner consistent with their religious

principles. By late 2018, there were hundreds of investors in the Riehl Investment Program,
located in Pennsylvania, in other states, and outside the United States.

4.

Trickling Springs Creamery, LLC ("Trickling Springs Creamery") was a

Pennsylvania limited liability company with its principal place of business in Guilford

Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Trickling Springs Creamery was in the business of
manufacturing dairy products, including organic and non-GMO milk, which was then sold from

its retail locations in Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. By at least 2017, defendant

PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL was the majority member of Trickling Springs Creamery, with a 64yr%
ownership stake. The remaining35%% was owned by Person #1, Person #2, and Person #3, who
owned 2y2o6, l5Yo, and 18o2, respectively. In September 2019, Trickling Springs Creamery
announced that it was closing its operations, and, in December 2079, it filed a voluntary

bankruptcy petition.

5.

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") was an independent

agency of the United States government charged by law with preserving honest and efficient

markets in securities, and the federal securities laws, regulations, and rules were designed to

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ensure that the financial information relating to companies and their securities was accurately

disclosed to the investing public.
The Conspiracy

6.

From at least in or about January 2010, through at least in or about

September 2019, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere, defendant

PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL
and Person #1, known to the United States Attorney, together and with others unknown to the

United States, conspired to commit offenses against the United States, namely

(a) securities fraud, that is, unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly,
directly and indirectly, by use of the means and
instrumentalities of interstate commerce and the mails- in
connection with the purchase and sale of a security, to use and

to employ manipulative and deceptive devices and
contrivances

by: (i) employing devices, schemes, and artifices

to defraud; (ii) making untrue statements of material facts and
omitting to state material facts necessary in order to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances under which

they were made, not misleading; and (iii) engaging in acts,
practices, and courses of business which operated and would
operate as a fraud and deceit upon any person, in violation

Title

15, United States Code, Sections 78j(b) and

of

78ff, and

Title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 240.10b--5; and

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(b) wire fraud, that is, knowingly and with the intent to defraud, to
devise, and to intend to devise, a scheme and artifice to
defraud, and to obtain money and property by means

of

materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and
promises, and to transmit and to cause to be transmitted wire
communications in interstate and foreign commerce, for the
purpose of executing the scheme and artifice, in violation

Title

of

18, United States Code, Section 1343.

Pumoses of the Conspiracy

7.

The purposes of the conspiracy were to (a) enrich defendant PHILIP

ELVIN RIEHL and his co-conspirators through the

sale of promissory notes for the Riehl

Investment Program and Trickling Springs Creamery to victim-investors located in the United
States and elsewhere, including in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; (b) conceal from victim-

investors the true financial condition of the Riehl Investment Program and Trickling Springs
Creamery; and (c) conceal from victim-investors the manner in which defendant RIEHL and his
co-conspirators were using investor proceeds.
Manner and Means

It was part of the conspiracy that:

8.

Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL operated the Riehl Investment

Program, which took in investments from investors, such investments taking the form

of

promissory notes. Investors were promised a rate of retum, with either a fixed or floating
interest rate. Defendant RIEHL told investors that invested funds would be used to make loans

to other persons, who would pay interest on those loans.

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9.

Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL made material misrepresentations

about the safety and security of investments in the Riehl Investment Program and the

performance of the Riehl Investment Program. Among other things:

(a) Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL told investors and
prospective investors that the Riehl Investment Program's

portfolio of loans was diversified, such that loans were not
concentrated in any one industry. In reality, up to

approximately forty percent of outstanding loans were to

Trickling Springs Creamery,

a business

of which defendant

RIEHL was the majority owner.
(b) Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL told investors and
prospective investors that he required two co-signers for each
loan, thereby reducing the risk of investing. In fact, not all

of

the Riehl Investment Program's loans were so secured.

(c) Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL told investors and
prospective investors that the Riehl Investment Program was

profitable, when, in reality, it was plagued by defaults and
uncollectible debts.

10.

Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL issued periodic "lnvestment Account

Statements" that purported to show interest eamed by investors and the current values

of

investments, even though he knew that he lacked suffrcient funds to repay these investors and

would need to obtain new investments to repay the existing investors.

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11.

On September 22,2016, defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL testified, under

penalties of perjury, before officers of the SEC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the "SEC

Testimony"). During the SEC Testimony, defendant RIEHL sought to impede the SEC stafls
investigation and testified that, although the Riehl Investment Program was short of funds, he
was not taking new investments, was in the process of winding down the Riehl Investment

Program, and always required two co-signers for loans made from the Riehl Investment
Program, when these statements were, in fact, not true.

12.

Contrary to what he testified to during his SEC Testimony, defendant

PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL continued to solicit and to accept investments into the Riehl Investment
Program after September 22,2016, and until late 2018.

13.

By June 2018, there was over $51 million in principal and accrued interest

owed to investors in the Riehl Investment Program. Despite this, during 2018 defendant PHILIP

ELVIN RIEHL solicited purported short term loans from investors, even though he knew that

he

and the Riehl Investment Program lacked the ability to repay them.

14.

Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL used investor money in the Riehl

Investment Program to make payments to himself, Trickling Springs Creamery, and prior
investors.

15.

Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL and Person #1 solicited investments in

Trickling Springs Creamery, which took the form of promissory notes, with Trickling Springs
Creamery promising rates of return of about 4%%o or 5Yo.

16.

Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL and Person

#l

prepared and furnished

to investors offering materials for investments in Trickling Springs Creamery, which contained
materially false or misleading statements about Trickling Springs Creamery, including about

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large contractual arangements it purportedly had, which it either did not have or which were
exaggerated or misleading.

17.

Defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL portrayed Trickling Springs Creamery

as a successful business worth about $20

million to $40 million, when, in reality, it was losing

money and was being propped up by investor funds and transfers of moneys from the Riehl
Investment Program. Defendant RIEHL and his co-conspirators failed to fully disclose to
investors the dire financial condition of Trickling Springs Creamery.

18.

By June 2018, there was about $12 million in principal and accrued

interest owed to investors in Trickling Springs Creamery. In addition, Trickling Springs
Creamery owed the Riehl Investment Program about $22 million.

19.

As of December 2019, there was a total of about $59,688,297.97 that was

invested by investors in the Riehl Investment Program and Trickling Springs Creamery that has
not been repaid to those investors (which amount does not include accrued interest).

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 Case 5:20-cr-00048-EGS Document 1 Filed 01/29/20 Page 8 of 13

Overt Acts

In furtherance of the conspiracy and to accomplish its objects, defendant PHILIP

ELVIN RIEHL, Person #1, and others unknown to the United

States committed the

following

overt acts, among others, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere:

1.

On or about January 30,2017 , Trickling Springs Creamery accepted an

investment of about $3,600 from K.R., based on a materially false and misleading offering
document attributed to defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL, Person #1, Person #2, and Person #3.

2.

On or about April 13, 2018, defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL sent a

facsimile transmission to J.B., in Iowa City, Iowa, enclosing instructions for a wire transfer to
one of defendant RIEHL's bank accounts, to facilitate an investment by J.B. in the Riehl

Investment Program.

3.

On or about June 30, 2018, defendant PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL sent C.Z. an

"Investment Account Statement" for C.Z.'s investment in the Riehl Investment Program.

All in violation of Title

18, United States Code, Section 371.

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 Case 5:20-cr-00048-EGS Document 1 Filed 01/29/20 Page 9 of 13

COUNT TWO

THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FURTHER CHARGES THAT:

l.

Paragraphs

l-5

and 8-19 and the Overt Acts of Count One of this

Information are realleged and incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein.

2.

From at least in or about January 2010, through at least in or about

September 2019, in the Eastem District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere, defendant

PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL
did unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly, directly and indirectly, and by aiding and abetting, by
use of the means and instrumentalities

of interstate commerce and the mails, in connection with

the purchase and sale of a security, use and employ manipulative and deceptive devices and

contrivances in violation of Title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 240.10V5,

by:

(a)

employing devices, schemes and artifices to defraud; (b) making untrue statements of material
facts and omitting to state material facts necessary in order to make the statements made, in light

of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and (c) engaging in acts,
practices, and courses of business which operated and would operate as a fraud and deceit upon
any person.

All in violation of Title
Title

15, United States Code, Sections 78j(b) and

17, Code of Federal Regulations, Section

78ff, and

240.10V5, and Title 18, United States Code,

Section 2.

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 Case 5:20-cr-00048-EGS Document 1 Filed 01/29/20 Page 10 of 13

COUNT THREE

THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FURTHER CHARGES THAT:

1.

Paragraphs 1-5 and the Overt Acts of Count One of this Information are

realleged and incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein.
The Scheme and Artifice to Defraud

2.

The United States realleges by reference Paragraph 7 of Count One of this

Information as a description of the purposes of the scheme.

3.

The United States realleges by reference Paragraphs 8-19 of Count One

of

this Information as a description of the scheme.

4.

From at least in or about January 2010 through at least in or about

September 2019, defendant

PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL
devised and intended to devise a scheme to defraud investors in the Riehl Investment Program
and Trickling Springs Creamery and to obtain money and property by means of false and

fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.
Use of Wires

5.

On or about April 13, 2018, in the Eastem District of Pennsylvania and

elsewhere, defendant

PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL
for the purpose of executing the scheme described above caused to be transmitted by means of
wire communication in interstate and foreign commerce certain writings, signs, signals, pictures,
and sounds, to wit, an interstate facsimile transmission from defendant zuEHL (in the Eastern

District of Pennsylvania) to J.B. (in the State of lowa).

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All in violation of Title

18, United States Code, Section 1343.

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NOTICE OF FORFEITURE,
THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FURTHER CHARGES THAT:

1.

As a result of the violations of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371

and 1343, and Title 15, United States Code, Sections 78j(b) and 78ff, defendant

PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL
shall forfeit to the United States of America any property that constitutes, or is derived from,
proceeds traceable to the commission of such offenses, including, but not limited to, the sum
at least $59,688,297 .97

2.

of

.

If any of

the property subject to forfeiture, as a result of any act or

omission of the defendant:

(a)

cannot be located upon the exercise ofdue diligence;

(b)

has been transferred or sold to, or deposited

(c)

has been placed beyond the

(d)

has been substantially diminished

(e)

has been commingled

with,

a

third-party;

jurisdiction of the Court;
in value; or

with other property which cannot be divided

without difficulty;

it is the intent of the United

States, pursuant to

Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c),

incorporating Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p), to seek forfeiture of any other
property of the defendant up to the value of the property subject to forfeiture.

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 Case 5:20-cr-00048-EGS Document 1 Filed 01/29/20 Page 13 of 13

Pursuant to Title 28, United States Code, Section

2a$@) and Title

States Code, Section 981(aXlXC).

. , I /,/.,i
lrL no,t LJo V /r.
wu,Lravr N,r. Ma$WAIN
United States Attorney

13

18, United

 Case 5:20-cr-00048-EGS Document 1-1 Filed 01/29/20 Page 1 of 1
IN THE UNITED STA TES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PE1',;NSYLVANIA
INFORMATION
DESIGNATION FOR.\1 to be used by counsel to indicate the category of the case for the
ose of assi nment to a ro riate calendar.
Address of Plaintiff: 615 Chestnut Street, Suite 1250, Philadelphia, PA 19106-4476
Post Office: Philadelphia

County: Philadelphia

City and State of Defendant: Bethel Township, Pennsylvania
County: Berks

Register number: N/A

Place of accident, incident, or transaction:

J3ethel Township

Post Office: :\.1yerstown

County: Berks

RELATED CASE, IF ANY:
Criminal cases are deemed related when the answer to the following question is "yes".
Does this case involve a defendant or defendants alleged to have participated in the same action
or transaction, or in the same series of acts or transactions, constituting an offense or offenses?
YES/NO: NIA
Case Number: NIA

Judge: NIA

CRIMINAL: (Criminal Category - FOR USE BY U.S. ATTORNEY ONLY)

1.

('

.

Antitrust

2.

r

3.

(' Commercial Mail Fraud

4.

(' Controlled Substances

5.

(' Violations of 18 U .S.C. Chapters 95 and 96 (Sections 1951-55 and 1961-68)
and :\.1ail Fraud other than commercial

6.

r. General Criminal

Income Tax and other Tax Prosecutions

(C.S. ATTORNEY WILL PLEASE DESIGNATE PARTICULAR CRI:\.1E A~D
STA n;TE CHARGED TO BE VIOLATED AND STATE ANY PREVIOUS
CRIMINAL NUMBER FOR SPEEDY TRIAL ACT TRACKING PURPOSES)
18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud -- 1 count)
15 U.S.C. §§ 78j{b) & 78ff and 17 C.F.R. § 240.l0b-5 (securities fraud- 1 count)
18 U.S.C. § 1343 (wire fraud - 1 count)
18 U.S.C. § 2 (aiding and abetting)
Notice of forfeiture

'

DATE: January 29, 2020
Assistant United States Attorney
File No. 2019R00I39
U.S. v. PHILIP ELVIN RIEHL