Oil and Gas Repairman Sentenced to 33 Months for $450,000 False Invoice Scheme

OKLAHOMA CITY – LUIS ENRIQUE DAMAZO, also known as Luis Enrique Cassinelli, 54, of Oklahoma City, has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for defrauding a Texas company of more than $450,000 through fictitious invoices, announced Robert J. Troester, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

According to charges filed on December 29, 2017, Damazo was employed as a repair technician by Dexter Field Services LP, a company headquartered in Austin, Texas.  Dexter Field Services provides leak detection, environmental monitoring, and consulting services to industrial clients in the energy sector.  Damazo’s job was to repair toxic vapor analyzers used to detect leaks at oil and gas refineries, which often required ordering replacement parts.

Rather than ordering parts from the original equipment manufacturer, Damazo ordered parts from BC Environmental, a company he secretly created and controlled.  From November 2009 through October 2015, Damazo submitted fictitious invoices from BC Environmental to Dexter Field Services for equipment, replacement parts, and tools that Dexter Field Services never received.  Damazo took steps to conceal his involvement with BC Environmental, including using a false identity to lease office space, opening bank accounts in his sons’ names, and creating fake identities for the purported employees of BC Environmental.  Dexter Field Services paid more than $450,000 to BC Environmental as a result of Damazo’s scheme, which he used for his personal benefit.

On February 2, 2018, Damazo pleaded guilty to a single count of mail fraud related to a fraudulent invoice he mailed to Dexter Field Services in March 2015.  Today, U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot sentenced him to 33 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  Damazo must also pay $456,863.59 in restitution to Dexter Field Services.

This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica L. Perry and William E. Farrior.

Reference is made to court filings for further information.