Branson man sued for scamming customers now faces criminal charges

TANEY COUNTY, Mo. — A Branson man sued for scamming Joplin tornado victims is back in court yet again, this time on criminal charges from the Missouri Attorney General's Office.

Online court documents show that Attorney General Andrew Bailey has charged 50-year-old Brian Sides for defrauding customers in connection with his business, MyPowerGrid, LLC. Sides is charged with one count of deceptive business practice and one count of financial exploitation of an elderly/disabled person.

A probable cause statement alleges that in 2022, MyPowerGrid, LLC. was contracted to install solar panels at a customer's residence. Documents say the customer paid over $14,000 for the work, but none of it was ever completed and the customer never received a refund.

In 2023, KOLR 10 Investigates found that a Stone County judge ordered Sides to pay nearly $70,000 for selling products through MyPowerGrid. A similar judgment came from a Greene County judge, who ordered Sides to pay $50,000 to Springfield-based transportation company Limo Land.

Later in 2023, Duane Smith and his wife Stephanie sued Sides, claiming he cost them their life savings on an RV park venture in Mountain Home, Arkansas. The Smiths claim that Sides abandoned the park and misused their investment.

"I had to take money out of retirement to cover insufficient funds so the construction loan could continue. I was planning to be a retiring teacher and now I can't because of this situation," said Duane Smith in a February 2024 interview with KOLR 10 Investigates.

No court dates have been set for Sides at this time. OzarksFirst will update this story as new information becomes available.