2 Defendants Plead Guilty, 2 More Arrested In $15 Million Oil Investment Fraud Scheme

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdga/pr/2-defendants-plead-guilty-2-more-arrested-15-million-oil-investment-fraud-scheme

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Georgia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 11, 2017

2 Defendants Plead Guilty, 2 More Arrested In $15 Million Oil Investment Fraud Scheme

SAVANNAH, GA – A federal indictment was unsealed yesterday charging Richard Paul Underwood, 65, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Colin P. Purcell, 56, of Simpsonville, Kentucky, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud in connection with a $15 million oil investment Ponzi scheme. Both Defendants were arrested by Special Agents of the United States Secret Service. The arrests of Defendants Underwood and Purcell follow the guilty pleas of David R. Greenlee, 41, of Seguin, Texas, andDavid A. Stewart, 46, of Portland, Kentucky. Greenlee and Stewart pled guilty earlier this month in Savannah before United States District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood for their roles in the Ponzi scheme. Greenlee and Stewart will be sentenced after the United States Probation Office completes a presentence investigation.
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From 2012 to 2016, Underwood, Purcell, Greenlee, Stewart and others claimed to investors nationwide that they operated companies selling supposed investments in oil and natural gas projects in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The Defendants assumed false identities during contacts with investors; they provided false information about the experience and background of the management of the companies; they failed to reveal that the individuals truly responsible for the management of the companies were convicted felons who had perpetrated other investment scams; and they repeatedly made other false statements in order to fraudulently obtain over $15 million from investors. Underwood, Purcell, Greenlee, Stewart and others then used the monies defrauded from investors for their own benefit.
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