Source: Office of United States Attorneys
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA –Today, Acting United States Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced the filing of a bill of information charging Plano, Texas-based MUREX MANAGEMENT, INC. (“MMI”), with aiding and abetting transactions that defrauded financial institutions, including the failed New Orleans-based First NBC Bank.
According to the bill of information, MMI was the management company of an affiliate that engaged in ethanol marketing and logistics services. Additionally, Company A was the U.S.-based subsidiary of a foreign, publicly traded, company that operated ethanol production plants.
According to the bill of information, beginning in 2013, Company A and its parent companies began to experience financial stress. In order to ameliorate cash flow issues and to manufacture additional financing for its debts, Company A initiated a strategy called “buy/sells” and targeted MMI to assist in this strategy. Company A’s plan called for both companies to create fictitious invoices purporting to be sales of ethanol between the two companies, which could then be sold as accounts receivable to unwitting buyers via a New Orleans-based online marketplace. This would provide cash flow for Company A and a profit to MMI. The unwitting buyers of these accounts receivable included financial institutions like First NBC Bank.
The bill of information alleges that, between October 28, 2013 and September 18, 2015, Company A and MMI conducted approximately $1.2 billion in fraudulent “buy/sell” transactions, with MMI making a profit of approximately $6,073,049. Company A eventually defaulted on paying financial institutions for the accounts receivable that had been posted for auction by MMI. The defaulted auctions caused a loss of approximately $73,073,683.05 to First NBC Bank, and a loss of approximately $8,330,427.02 to a North Carolina bank.
If convicted, MMI faces a maximum fine of $1,000,000.00, or twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss to any victim. It also will be required to pay restitution and a mandatory special assessment fee of $400.00.
Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson reiterated that the bill of information is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the FDIC Office of Inspector General, Dallas Field Office, and the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division, Houston Resident Office, that investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew R. Payne of the Financial Crimes Unit and Nicholas D. Moses, Health Care Fraud Coordinator, handled this prosecution.