Here an article of Kamal Arrest
Aug. 14, 2009, 9:51PM
Share Print Share Del.icio.usDiggTwitterYahoo! BuzzFacebookStumbleUponThe FBI has arrested a former chairman of the parent company of a Texas firm under investigation about petroleum products stolen from Mexican oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, that were smuggled and resold in the U.S.
Kamal Abdallah, 44, appeared briefly in federal court in San Antonio on Friday on stock-fraud charges out of New York alleging he was involved in a penny-stock scam, and is scheduled for a bail hearing Wednesday.
The alleged scheme involved the manipulation of stock prices at two small companies, including one he chaired. That company, Universal Property Development and Acquisition, is involved in natural gas and energy exploration.
The FBI arrested Abdallah this week at his home in the Dominion, the same week U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that millions of dollars of petroleum condensate was stolen from Pemex pipelines, smuggled into Texas using import companies and falsified paperwork, and resold in the U.S.
Officials said the thefts are linked to the Gulf Cartel's armed enforcers, Los Zetas.
Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora told the Express-News this week that $50 million in stolen petroleum product was traced to the U.S., referring to the U.S. currency recovered from alleged thieves arrested in March.
One of Universal's subsidiaries, Continental Fuels Inc., formerly of San Antonio and now in Houston, is under investigation in the Pemex case.
ICE agents seized $40,000 they say is from sales of contraband condensate. Continental Fuels owns and operates Universal's port facilities and blending and distribution businesses, according to a report on the companies by Beacon Equity Research.
The probe by ICE is focusing on at least 10 companies — some of them tiny oil and petroleum transporters, and whether larger refiners knew the petroleum products they were buying was stolen.
Abdallah's lawyer, John Convery, said Friday that his client denies the stock-fraud allegations and “looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Convery also said “we are not aware of any (separate) investigation” involving Abdallah.
“During the relevant times, he was the chairman of a parent company of Continental,” Convery said. “He was not involved in the day-to-day management and decision making and was not aware of any improprieties or irregularities related to the trading and importation of fuel.”
