A US attorney allegedly bilked a Mexican construction company out of $500,000 for a real estate development project in Libya that may or may not have existed, reports Star Tribune.
According to federal charges filed this week, Timothy Jon Oliver spent all but $1,000 of a $500,000 payment from ARS Tectonica in 2009 for personal purposes and never followed through on his promise to use the funds to secure a line of credit to pursue a construction project in Bani Walid.
In the federal indictment filed last week, Oliver is described as “vice chairman for North African Affairs” for a company called GVA International Ltd. that was “purported” to be developing the Bani Walid project. He allegedly “induced” ARS to send another company he controlled, American Diversified Industries (ADI), $500,000 to help secure a performance bond to present to the development arm of the Libyan government that was overseeing the Bani Walid project.
The contract was represented to ARS as a “potentially lucrative opportunity for ARS Tectonica to perform construction services in Libya.”
In addition to the criminal charges, federal prosecutors want a forfeiture order for any proceeds from the alleged fraud.
(Source: Star Tribune)
(Fraud image via Shutterstock)
