Aegean Marine Uncovers Possible USD 300 Mn Fraud

Over a dozen employees of marine fuel logistics company Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, including members of senior management, were involved in a fraud scheme worth around USD 500 million.

The company’s Audit Committee found that up to USD 300 million of company cash and other assets were misappropriated through fraudulent activities. The principal beneficiary of the misappropriation is allegedly OilTank Engineering & Consulting, 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. The Audit Committee believes that this contract was used to misappropriate company funds through inflated contracts and fraudulent pricing.

Aegean previously reported on June 4, 2018, that, as a result of the preliminary findings of the investigation, the Audit Committee believed that some USD 200 million of accounts receivable on the company’s books and records at December 31, 2017 would need to be written off.

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 activities appear to have commenced as early as 2010, according to Aegean Marine Petroleum Network.