Gary Evans and Jeff Swanson are board members of a very successful oil exploration company, Magnum Hunter Resources. Gary is the CEO of the company. These two savvy businessmen are the trustees of a small Oil Royalty Trust. (Tel Offshore Trust). Royalty trusts are a way for a small investor to enter the risky but very profitable oil exploration business. The trust usually partners with a big oil companies by pooling their money and sharing in the risk and profits the oil industry has to offer.
The problem with these arrangements is that the oil companies don't even try to be fair. They overstate the expenses so they can overcharge their partners. They under report the amount of resources they take thus shorting their partners royalty payments. The oil company makes themselves the customer but sets the price they will pay. These exact practices are what Chevron has been accused of and has had to pay settlements due to their conduct. Chevron has had to pay settlements for this type of practices over and over again. Why would an oil company that is so
successful need to cheat their partners / investors? The very people that invested their retirement money to help these companies find so much oil and gas reserves.
Tel Offshore could not fall prey to this type of practices because they two life long professional in the oil industry as trustees. Trustees who are to look out for the best interest for the trust. These industry experts wouldn't let a trust that 2008 was highly profitable and worth $30 per share and drive the trust to loosing money every quarter and slash value to $1.40 per share. They wouldn't fall prey to all of the deception that Chevron is so famous for. The trustees would not hire an attorney (Mike Ulrich with the Bank of Mellon) as the reporting trustee.
This a man who has been involved in several other allegations of fraud. At least one of those fraud Allegations has resulted in a settlement already. You would think you would be safe against this type of fraud with these professionals at the helm. You would be wrong! This an industry wide problem and soulless people like this who are making record profits
and record bonuses just can't help themselves from stealing from these small investors who are slow to believe that this could really happen. We have the SEC and the DOJ who will
jump in and make these Robber Barrons pay for these acts of deception.
Bernie Madoff proved you have to put a gun to SEC's head before they act. The financial crisis happened while the SEC yawned. SEC's John Brandenburg can't seem to have time to put in any effort to help the little guy, or return an email, or give a victim of fraud a phone number they so they can make their case. The government just doesn't have time to help and filthy companies like Chevron and Mike Urlich, Gary Evans and Jeff Swanson (and Bernie Madoff) will continue to ruin peoples lives. People who trusted them and assumed they were quality people.
Do you ever consider what the consequences of your schemes have on others? Do you ever take a moment to consider what kind of person you have become?
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