Online banking bandits pulled thousands of dollars from the accounts of current and former SemGroup LP employees after personal information was inadvertently left on a bankruptcy court document made public last summer. SemGroup officials said, however, that as far as they are aware, all the money was returned to the accounts and no funds have been lost. About 60 current and former employees or creditors were affected by the account fraud, which moved as much as $10,000 from some accounts into online stock trading accounts, SemGroup spokesman Lance Ignon confirmed Tuesday. Nearly 200 total individuals were affected, including some creditors who were not employees. The Tulsa-based company learned about the account fraud after some employees brought it to management’s attention last month. “The company notified the FBI after learning the account fraud was occurring,” Ignon said. “At this time we don’t know anyone whose account was compromised who has not had his or her funds returned.” CEO Terry Ronan alerted employees to the banking snafu in a Jan. 30 letter received this week by the Tulsa World. In the letter, Ronan apologizes for the information getting out and warns employees on how to protect their accounts. “In connection with a required filing with the bankruptcy court, we inadvertently submitted a report containing some of your personal information,” he wrote in the letter. “We recommend that you contact your bank to discuss the appropriate steps you may wish to take with regard to your account. These steps may include carefully reviewing your account statements and closing the affected account.” Ignon said SemGroup moved as promptly as it could to protect those who were hit by the account transfers. The company has offered its employees a credit monitoring service at no cost, he added. SemGroup filed for Chapter 11 protection July 22 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., reporting more than $2.4 billion lost in oil futures trading margins. At the time, a creditor’s matrix including thousands of names and account information for employees, creditors and other vendors was inadvertently included in the filings. Judge Brendan L. Shannon is awaiting a reorganization plan for the oil, gas and asphalt trading, storage and transportation company. New York billionaire John Catsimatidis has gained a majority of SemGroup management seats and says he is working on a reorganization plan. Catsimatidis announced Tuesday that he has launched a new Web site focused on his SemGroup reorganization efforts. The site — at tulsaworld.com/semreorg — includes his biography, his reasons for interest in saving the company, news reports about the bankruptcy case and even a “hotline” for anyone interested in calling or e-mailing his group. A checklist on the e-mail option allows the contact person to say whether they are an employee. Ronan and Catsimatidis have clashed because the SemGroup CEO wants any communications involving employees and the billionaire’s group to run through consultants Blackstone Advisory Group. “While I was in Tulsa, I received feedback that SemGroup LP’s employees not only want to communicate their thoughts about the reorganization process, but also want to ask questions about what’s going on,” Catsimatidis said in a press release. “The Web site will allow them to do that.” Ronan previously said the bankruptcy case legally requires oversight by Blackstone. Catsimatidis has contended that consultants only want to block his reorganization plan because they will earn bonuses on the selloff of SemGroup assets. Ronan previously said he is open to Catsimatidis’ efforts but is still waiting to hear details on a reorganization plan. Catsimatidis may deliver his plan later this month. Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=49&articleid=20090210_298_0_Olnakn895004
