Oil and Gas Repairman Pleads Guilty to Over $400,000 in Fraudulent Invoices

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – LUIS ENRIQUE DAMAZO, also known as Luis Enrique Cassinelli, 54, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has pleaded guilty to defrauding a Texas company of more than $400,000 through fraudulent invoices, announced Robert J. Troester, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

According to charges filed on December 29, 2017, Damazo was employed as a repair technician by Dexter Field Services LP, a company headquartered in Austin, Texas.  Dexter Field Services provided leak detection, environmental monitoring, and consulting services to industrial clients in the energy sector.  Damazo’s job was to repair toxic vapor analyzers used to detect leaks at oil and gas refineries, which involved ordering replacement parts.  From November 2009 through October 2015, he is alleged to have secretly operated a business known as BC Environmental.  According to the charges, he used that business to prepare fictitious order forms and invoices showing purchases purportedly made on behalf of Dexter Field Services for equipment, replacement parts, and tools.  He is charged with having received more than $400,000 from Dexter Field Services as a result of these fraudulent documents.  He allegedly caused these checks to be deposited in a BC Environmental bank account and used the money for his personal benefit.

Today Damazo admitted these allegations and entered a guilty plea to mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot.  As a result, he could be imprisoned for a maximum of twenty years, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  He could also be fined up to $250,000 and will be subject to mandatory restitution.  Sentencing will take place in approximately 90 days.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica L. Perry and William E. Farrior are prosecuting the case.

Reference is made to court filings for further information.