Federal judge freezes former CFO's assets
By Dan Piller
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Posted on Thu, Nov. 17, 2005
A federal judge in Lubbock on Wednesday froze the assets of Jonathan "Jody" Nelson, 36, former chief financial officer of Patterson-UTI Energy of Snyder, who has been implicated in a $69 million embezzlement against the energy drilling firm.
Judge Sam Cummings issued the order in response to an emergency lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that Nelson, who lives in Dallas, orchestrated a scheme to embezzle money from his employer over five years. The complaint says Nelson confessed to Patterson-UTI on Nov. 9 that he had embezzled about $29 million but that company records show about $40 million more in losses.
The complaint alleges that Nelson used a phony-invoice scheme to embezzle money and then funnel it to several entities he controlled, including travel agencies, a real-estate company and an aviation company. The SEC contends that Nelson used the funds to buy an airplane, an airfield, a cattle ranch, homes, vehicles and a full-service truck stop.
Patterson-UTI is one of the nation's largest contract drilling firms, owning more than 400 rigs. |
