Former Tulsa Company Employee Sentenced In Federal Fraud Case

The criminal case for two men whose embezzlement scheme was carried out in the California office of a Tulsa company has ended with both men headed to federal prison.  

The Daily Republic newspaper, in Fairfield-Suisun, California reports Brian Federico received nearly a six-year sentence after being found guilty of conspiracy and mail fraud. His co-conspirator, Kevin Laney, received a five-year prison sentence for his role in the scheme.

Laney worked for Matrix Service Company based in Tulsa which builds and maintains oil tanks for large petrochemical companies. 

Federico worked for a now-defunct California concrete company that contracted with Matrix in 2007 and 2008.

According to court documents, Laney, then a senior project manager for Matrix handling work for Chevron, and Federico devised an elaborate scheme to bilk Matrix by making up invoices and overbilling for projects or billing for work never done.

Laney pocketed more than $400,000 while Federico took home more than $1.3 million, according to court records.

The newspaper says the scheme was uncovered in 2010 by Matrix.  It says audits and an investigation by the FBI followed.