MARTINEZ — The owners of a local professional baseball franchise are suspected of overseeing what the FBI has described as an $800 million-plus Ponzi scheme in which new investors were used to pay off old investors, according to court documents.

The documents were first revealed by Kickin’ the Tires, a website devoted to NASCAR racing.

DC Solar Inc., a Benicia-based solar company, filed for federal bankruptcy earlier this month. Martinez residents Jeff and Paulette Carpoff were listed as the owners of the company. They also are listed as the owners of the Martinez Clippers, a team in the Pacific Association of Baseball Clubs, though the league’s commissioner says they are unlikely to remain owners in the 2019 season.

The solar company also sponsored Chip Ganassi Racing in the XFINITY series, but that team shut down operations after FBI agents raided the Carpoffs’ home and Benicia business in December. The raids were in connection with an “investment fraud” investigation that centered on DC Solar, according to court filings.

The FBI froze bank accounts associated with DC Solar, forcing the company to lay off 100 employees, according to court records.

Attorneys representing DC Solar wrote in court filings the company still has “strong support” from employees, customers and investors despite all this. However, DC Solar also faces a class-action suit by former employees who allege the company violated the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which offers protections for laid-off workers.

Related Articles FBI raids home of East Bay baseball-team owners According to Kickin’ the Tires, FBI special agent Christopher Phillips said in an affidavit that he recognized the flow of investor money from a company that manufactures mobile solar generators to a firm responsible for leasing those units to third parties. The money then was invested to investments funds, letting Carpoff and others conceal the absence of third-party leases, according to the affidavit.

Meanwhile, there are unanswered questions about the future of the Martinez Clippers, who finished 29-51 in their inaugural season last year, after going 21-19 in the season’s second half. The Clippers, along with the Napa Silverados, joined the Pacific Association last year, expanding the independent summer league to six teams.

Pacific Association Commissioner Theo Fightmaster said he has been in touch with an attorney for the Carpoffs, who recently indicated to him that they “weren’t going to be in a position to operate the team” in 2019. But Fightmaster added that there is still hope the Clippers will survive.

“My hope is that this will give some local investors comfort that they can come forward and rescue baseball in Martinez,” Fightmaster said. “There is some interest.”

Fightmaster said he recently met with a potential investor. If no one steps up to buy the team, the league may add a traveling team as a stopgap solution.

The Clippers ranked third in attendance last year, with around 9,000 total fans and an average of 225 per game. The Pacific Association’s 2019 season is expected to start in June, and lasts roughly 85 games.

“Martinez had such a great showing last year … we’re optimistic we can salvage baseball there,” Fightmaster said. “The city has been incredibly supportive.”

The Clippers’ website is no longer active, and requests for comment made to the team’s email and social media accounts weren’t immediately returned.