$ANWWQ: +$300Million Litigation Lawsuit for Melissandis Embezzelment
News today is that Shareholders are suing Eddie Lampert and
Treasury Secretary S.Munichin for the fiasco on Sears Holding.
Melissanidis is as ROGUE as they come.
Lawsuits will be very aggressive and go after Melissanidis for
recovering every last dime.
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How the scam was set up
In the company’s formal statement to New York Stock Exchange authorities last Friday, it says that the investigation has essentially been completed, and that based on the evidence to date, the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors drew their conclusions:
1. The Audit Committee believes up to US$300 million of Company cash and other assets were misappropriated through fraudulent activities. The Audit Committee believes that the principal beneficiary of the misappropriation is OilTank Engineering & Consulting Ltd. (“OilTank”), a company based in Fujairah and incorporated on March 15, 2010 in the Marshall Islands. On March 31, 2010 OilTank entered into a contract with Aegean’s subsidiary to oversee the construction of the Fujairah Oil Terminal Facility (the “Fujairah Facility”). The Audit Committee believes that this contract was used to misappropriate Company funds through inflated contracts and fraudulent pricing. The Audit Committee has reason to believe that OilTank is controlled by a former affiliate of the Company (the “Former Affiliate”).
2. As of December 31, 2017, the Company and/or its subsidiaries had an aggregate of approximately US$200 million in accounts receivable that arose from purported commercial transactions that occurred in 2015, 2016, and 2017. These transactions lacked economic substance as the relevant counterparties were shell companies with no material assets or operations and were owned or controlled by former employees or affiliates of the Company. The Audit Committee believes that the receivables were improperly recorded as part of a scheme to facilitate and conceal an extensive misappropriation of Company assets channeled to OilTank, but accounted for as transactions with these shell companies. The Audit Committee has further confirmed that the approximately US$200 million of receivables are uncollectible and will be written off.
3. The Investigation also uncovered additional actions to defraud the Company and/or its subsidiaries, including prepayment for future oil deliveries that were never made. These fraudulent activities appear to have commenced as early as 2010.
4. The misappropriation of Company assets, and the fraudulent accounting entries and fictitious documentation designed to conceal it, involved over a dozen Company employees, including members of senior management. The employees who directed the scheme, which involved the creation of falsified and forged documents, including bank statements, audit confirmations, contracts, invoices and third party certifications, among others, have been terminated.
Psychological, physical violence threats against employees
5. The Audit Committee believes that this misconduct occurred in part because the Former Affiliate has exerted significant control over Company personnel and assets through various inappropriate means, including threats of economic retaliation and physical violence. In addition, the Former Affiliate continues to have access to and control over the Company’s electronic and physical files.
