Here is exhert from Argus News on who around who the 3 Oxbow Exec’s were (hard believe Lawrence Black would be one of them – smart guys doing stupid things).
……….The suit filed last week claims Kirby Martensen, Lawrence Black and Zhan Wenming, executives at Oxbow Carbon and two affiliate companies, participated in a wide-ranging scheme that used shell companies in Asia to buy petroleum coke and coal from the company and resell it at higher prices. The defendants also allegedly accepted bribes and kickbacks from competing companies.
Black, who was Martensen and Zhan’s supervisor, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Valid contact information for the other two defendants, who were based in Singapore and China, could not be quickly obtained. A spokesman for Oxbow declined to comment.
Oxbow filed the suit on 21 March in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. It received information in 2011 that Black and Martensen allegedly were engaging in extensive theft, breaches of fiduciary duty, fraud and self-dealing against the companies by which they were employed.
According to the lawsuit, beginning on or before March 2009 two shell companies in which the defendants and an unidentified co-conspirator were directly involved would buy petroleum coke and coal in Asia from Oxbow at prices usually reserved for preferred customers. Those companies would then resell the product to third-party Asian customers at prices sometimes as much as 12 times above Oxbow’s charge, according to the lawsuit.
Martensen, Black and Zhan also allegedly directed business to freight company American Frontier Marine, a known competitor, which overcharged Oxbow customers and credited the excess payments to the shell companies. Beginning in June 2009, one shell company alone diverted at least $1.2mn in freight payments from legitimate customers, according to the suit.
The defendants allegedly received compensation and bribes for their cooperation. In addition, Martensen received tens of thousands of reimbursements for relocation expenses and overseas school tuition when he moved to Singapore last year, not only from Oxbow but also from the companies involved in the fraud, according to the suit.
Oxbow had employed Martensen since 1996 and promoted him to senior vice president-Asia at Oxbow Carbon & Minerals International in late 2011. Black had worked at the company since 1984 and was executive vice president of worldwide fuel grade petroleum coke with Oxbow Carbon & Minerals, as well as a member and executive vice president of Oxbow Carbon for the past three years. Zhan, also known as Charlie Zhan, started at Oxbow Coal BV in 2008 and most recently was general manager of Oxbow Carbon & Mineral’s Tianjin, China office………..
