Tucson solar installer arrested on criminal bank fraud charges

The owner of a defunct Tucson rooftop solar company has been arrested on charges of federal bank fraud.

Daniel Jarrett Ridlinghafer, owner and operator of Tucson Solar Pros, was arrested by the FBI on charges he defrauded two credit unions by accepting payments for solar installations that were never started or finished.

Several Tucson-area residents complained in 2022 that the company took their money without completing the solar installations, reporting that in some case Tucson Solar Pros was paid the full proceeds of solar loans before starting work.

Ridlinghafer was arrested by the FBI on July 23 on charges that he defrauded Tucson Old Pueblo Credit Union and NuVision Credit Union, a California-based institution with operations in the Phoenix area.

Starting about January 2021 through around early July 2022, Ridlinghafer received nearly $700,000 in loan proceeds and down payments for contracted home solar installations, but abandoned several solar installation jobs before completion and never started installation of the solar systems on at least 25 victims’ homes.

Federal prosecutors allege that Ridlinghafer used the victims’ funds to complete older projects and pay personal and business expenses.

After falling behind and being unable to start new jobs or complete older ones, that complaint says that Ridlinghafer continued to sign solar contracts with new victims while knowing he did not have the funding, before going out of business in July 2022.

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And by using the fraudulent contracts to obtain loans for the solar projects, the complaint says, Ridlinghafer knowingly and intentionally engaged in a scheme to defraud both the victim homeowners and the credit unions.

Federal bank fraud carries a maximum fine of up to $1 million and a prison sentence of up to 30 years, or both.

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Tucson Solar Pros’ failure prompted at least 16 former customers to sue the company as well as Tucson Old Pueblo Credit Union, which said 39 of its customers had signed contracts with the company.

The state civil lawsuit against the credit union, filed in December 2022, was dismissed in January 2024 after the parties reached an undisclosed settlement.