North Carolina Man Convicted in Oil-Drilling Investment Scheme
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 15, 2011 |
Patrick Shelow, 59, of Asheville, North Carolina, was convicted today of five counts of wire fraud in connection with an oil-drilling investment scheme that bilked his victims out of $1.2 million. Shelow was president of Reserve Fuels Limited, a corporation registered in the British Virgin Islands. From 2006 to 2008, he solicited money from his victims for an oil-driling project in Ecuador. The project was a sham and Shelow used the money to finance his and his family’s personal expenses. Shelow faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years on each count. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Axelrod.