Former Manager for Natural Gas Drilling Supplier Indicted on Fraud Charges

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2012-08-31

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that an indictment charging James Pearson, 37, formerly of Montoursville, Pennsylvania, was unsealed following his arrest Tuesday.

Pearson was indicted by a federal grand jury in Harrisburg on August 22, 2012, charging him with criminal conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Pearson was formerly employed as a warehouse manager by M-I Swaco, a Houston, Texas-based supplier of drilling fluid systems with an office in Watsontown, Pennsylvania. M-I Swaco provides services and equipment to natural gas drillers in the Marcellus shale region in Central Pennsylvania.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, the indictment alleges that between approximately January 1, 2010 and December 30, 2011, Pearson and other un-named co-conspirators perpetrated a fraud in which they purchased extra materials from M-I Swaco vendors, billed M-I Swaco for the materials, and then used the materials and M-I Swaco facilities to build products. Pearson then allegedly leased the products back to M-I Swaco through a straw company known as Black Gold Land Services, which had a mailing address in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Black Gold Land Services allegedly submitted fraudulent invoices to M-I Swaco for payment for the leased equipment.

If convicted, Pearson, who resides in New Braunfels, Texas, faces a maximum five-year prison sentence, plus fines and restitution.

Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

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