Defendant Accused Of Bilking Schlumberger Subsidiary Pleads Guilty
02 Setembro 2011 - 7:41PM
Dow Jones News
One of two men accused of bilking an oilfield service company
that is now a unit of Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) out of more than $3.5
million has agreed to plead guilty to in exchange for a reduced
sentence, according to court records.
Bobby Dean Roberts, 51 years old, on Friday agreed in Houston's
federal court to plead guilty to one felony conspiracy charge.
Roberts and co-defendant Jeremy Gene Dobbins, 35, were charged
in July with scamming drilling fluid maker MI-SWACO by submitting
and then approving bogus invoices at the company's Houston area
facility, where both men worked.
According to prosecutors, Dobbins, who had been a facilities
manager, and Roberts, who worked under Dobbins as a building
operations supervisor, created four vendors through which they
submitted bogus invoices, approved them and pocketed the
proceeds.
Prosecutors contend that the fraud was carried out between March
2008 and June 2010.
A Schlumberger spokesman has said both men were employed with
MI-SWACO when it was a unit of Smith International, which was
acquired by Schlumberger last year. Neither, the spokesman said,
was ever on the payroll of Schlumberger, which is the world's
largest oilfield services company.
Dobbins and Roberts were indicted in July. Each was charged with
nine counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering,
according to the indictment.
Dobbins, who has pleaded not guilty, is scheduled to be tried on
Dec. 5.
According to court documents, Roberts' agreement with
prosecutors requires him to forfeit any ill-gotten gains and to
cooperate with investigators in their case against Dobbins.
In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommend leniency and drop
all but a single charge, the maximum sentence for which is five
years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Roberts is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 2.
-By Ryan Dezember, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208;
ryan.dezember@dowjones.com
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