HOUSTON (Reuters) – By the standards of recent financial scandals, Stephanie Rae Roqumore's alleged $6.8 million natural gas trading scam may be small potatoes, but it raises some big questions.
How could a lone natural gas trader in Houston dupe some of the world's biggest energy companies for eight years, despite a veritable forest of red flags? After all, the overhaul of trading rules and credit practices in the wake of Enron's collapse was supposed to make it tougher, if not impossible, to perpetuate such a fraud.
In September, FBI agents raided Roqumore's suburban Houston home, searching for evidence she scammed at least 11 energy companies. Among the stacks of paperwork seized from the ornate 3,000-square-foot house were bank records for trading firms Roqumore is accused of using to dupe companies including Occidental Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Coral Energy Resources, Hess Corp and privately-held commodities giant Cargill.
Federal agents also recovered two handguns -- one found under a mattress -- ammunition, documents for a million-dollar life insurance policy and a summons from the Internal Revenue Service, according to the search and seizure warrant.
The $6.8 million scheme laid out in a 19-count indictment charging wire fraud and money laundering seems straightforward. "We are sifting through the evidence at this point and Ms. Roqumore maintains her innocence," Wendell Odom, Roqumore's attorney, said in an statement.
Roqumore, 48, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, is accused of purchasing natural gas from firms by submitting false financial statements to the companies to obtain lines of credit. She would then sell gas to counter-parties like ConocoPhillips, paying back either a fraction of the purchase price or nothing at all in some instances, according to her indictment.
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Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Monday, November 15th 2010 at 3:36PM
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