Convicted fraudster Dennis Desender told a federal judge in St. Paul last July that he'd do his best to make investors in Bixby Energy Systems whole when he gets out of prison in about eight years.
It will take the 65-year-old a while to pull that off.
Prosecutors and his lawyer have tallied up the damages Desender and others caused as they rounded up investors for Bixby, a Ramsey-based company that tried to market technology in China that converts coal to natural gas.
Desender's bill, including judgments and restitution, comes to $52,269,945.79, according to a stipulation filed Friday in U.S. District Court.
Desender, a former financial consultant for Bixby and other Twin Cities firms, pleaded guilty in September to one count of securities fraud and implicated its former CEO, Bob Walker, in a conspiracy alleged to have cheated some 1,800 investors. Desender pleaded guilty earlier to tax evasion.
Walker is scheduled to go to trial in September.
DAN BROWNING
