Oil Company Says Execs Swiped Millions

ALBUQUERQUE (CN) - Sundance Services, an oilfield company, claims two "high-level employees" conspired with a third employee to swipe "tens of millions of dollars through the commission of hundreds of acts in violation of federal and state law, including wire fraud, tax fraud, mail fraud, embezzlement and money laundering, over a period of nearly a decade."

Sundance Services has no relation to the Utah film festival. It extracts usable oil from waste products.

It claims the leaders of the conspiracy, Donna and Kelly Roach, abused their authority and used the stolen money to buy summer homes, an $800,000 "guest cottage and swimming pool," a $95,000 RV, real estate, mobile homes and other "purportedly legitimate businesses, including retail establishments and restaurants," and then cooked the books to conceal where the money was going and what happened.

Sundance claims its employee Michael Patterson was the third player in the conspiracy.

Donna Roach was assistant to the company president, and secretary; Kelly Roach was manager of operations and a company director; and Patterson was a plant manager and sales director and hired and promoted Donna Roach, according to the complaint.

Sundance claims the conspiracy lasted from 2001 to 2008.

"Donna Roach, apparently tempted by a substantial increase in plaintiff's revenues, and with the assistance of defendant Michael Patterson, began to abuse the signing privileges and access to plaintiff's bank accounts she had been granted upon her promotion to President and Secretary in 1998," according to the complaint. "Kelly Roach began to violate the duties of loyalty and trust placed in him as manager of plaintiff's plant operations to use his position of authority for the exclusive benefit of the plaintiff.

"Together, defendants Donna Roach, Kelly Roach and Michael Patterson conspired to infiltrate plaintiff's operations and, under cover of the legitimacy conferred by the plaintiff, utilized its assets and access to business and financial opportunities to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity for the benefit of themselves and others."

Sundance also sued 12 other people and two corporations, in its 91-page RICO complaint. It says the other defendants may have received properties and other assets from the scheme.

Sundance seeks an accounting and more than $10 million in damages for fraud, civil RICO violations, and conversion. It is represented by Stephan Vidmar with Miller Stratvert.

Here are the defendants: Donna Roach, Kelly Roach, Michael Patterson, A.R. Construction, Anthony Pender, Terry Garcia, Joann Pender, Sylvanna Velasquez aka Sylvanna Trujillo, Dario Velasquez, Richard Velasquez Jr., Richard Velasquez Sr., Sylvia Velasquez, Katy Velasquez, Richard Short, Max Velasquez, Armando Ramos aka Armondo Ramos and Double T Fashions.

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