The Texas Rangers may wind up investigating a scam through which several local municipal utility districts were bilked of nearly $200,000.
In September, managers for Sugar Land’s ECO Resources discovered evidence of an apparent scheme through which several MUDs – all ECO customers – had been falsely billed for a total of more than $185,000 in work or services never performed.
The company fired Janet E. Trentham, of Missouri City, one if its client managers, in connection with the scheme.
ECO, which manages and operates more than 120 municipal utility districts, agreed to make restitution for the $185,000-plus in losses to MUD districts that’s been identified so far, and also hired a forensic accounting firm to conduct an audit and determine if there were any further losses.
ECO alerted Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey to the apparent scam, and agreed to turn findings of the forensic audit over to his office once it’s complete.
On Thursday, Healey said he’s spoken with Jeff Cook of the Texas Rangers about the matter. If the audit shows a criminal investigation is warranted, Healey said, he intends to ask the Rangers for assistance, and the Rangers “will accept any request I make.”
ECO Resources, which was founded by Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert, now is owned by Southwest Water Co., a publicly traded company headquarterd in Los Angeles, with whom Hebert has a consulting agreement.
Southwest’s John Boardman, who manages ECO operations, said the forensic audit still is being worked on, but may be completed by the end of November.
“I’m trying to push them to a resolution,” Boardman said of the auditors, “and they’re trying to remind me that they need to be thorough.”
Meanwhile, Trentham has been served notice that she’s being sued for fraud by one of the victimized MUDs.
First Colony MUD #9 filed suit against Trentham last month in Fort Bend County District Court. The lawsuit alleges Trentham obtained more than $25,000 from the utility district through fraud, and seeks actual and punitive damages, an accounting of Trentham and all her financial records, interest on money taken by fraud, and attorney’s fees
Trentham, who does not have a listed phone number, could not be reached for comment for this story.
In September, managers for Sugar Land’s ECO Resources discovered evidence of an apparent scheme through which several MUDs – all ECO customers – had been falsely billed for a total of more than $185,000 in work or services never performed.
ECO alerted Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey to the apparent scam, and agreed to turn findings of a forensic audit over to his office once it’s complete.
If the audit shows a criminal investigation is warranted, Healey said, he intends to ask the Rangers for assistance, and the Rangers “will accept any request I make.”
