VENTURA : Businessman Pleads Guilty to Fraud
A 44-year-old Ventura man has pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud in connection with business dealings with Mobil Oil of Indonesia, the U. S. attorney’s office said.
Howard Bruce Nicholls, former president of the now-defunct National Equipment and Supply Co. in Ventura, pleaded guilty Monday to the charges, Assistant U. S. Atty. Daniel O’Brien said Wednesday.
The federal case against Nicholls stemmed from a scheme in late 1986 or early 1987 in which the businessman sold sham safety valves and other oil field equipment to Mobil, O’Brien said. Nicholls’ company handled sales and manufacturing of oil field equipment.
The FBI began investigating Nicholls’ business after Mobil officials detected faulty equipment, O’Brien said.
Nicholls’ attorney, Donald Randolph of Santa Monica, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Nicholls’ sentencing is scheduled for July 19 in U. S. District Court. The maximum sentence he could receive is 15 years. In addition, O’Brien said, Nicholls could be fined a maximum of $750,000 and the court could order him to pay Mobil additional compensation.
Nicholls was convicted in state court in March, 1991, in an unrelated incident in which he unlawfully transported hazardous waste and violated his probation on an unrelated felony charge.
He is serving a six-year term in state prison.
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