The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, August 22, 1979, Image 5

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    THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 22. 1979
Page 5
redit card swindle
Z3pould cost $1 million
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United Press International
ALPINE, Texas — An assistant
strict attorney said Tuesday losses
tn a credit card swindling scheme
duoned by Southern Pacific rail-
ad employees and West Texas
nice station operators may total
million.
Assistant District Attorney Ken-
ith DeHart said seven persons ar-
-sted recently in the scam bring to
(the number of defendants impli-
ited.
But DeHart, who said the quiet
investigation began in January, in
dicated those arrested may repre
sent only a small portion of the par
ticipants in the 2-year-old
enterprise.
Local authorities and Southern
Pacific Transportation Co. detec
tives discovered the credit card
scheme in January and received
cooperation from seven suspects ar
rested, DeHart said.
The arrested pleaded guilty to
lients sought for
leepwater port
: WANTED
OMMATE
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lobile home
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of Villa Mai
manager
United Press International
HOUSTON — The Texas
leepwater Port Authority board
% Ksda y voted to seek approval of a
jpartment of Transportation
*nse agreement and to begin find-
ijclients of a proposed $1.2 billion
Jterminal 26 miles off Freeport.
We have made a giant step in
ling the reality of a deepwater
for Texas, Port Authority
man Bob Casey said at the
leering of commissioners.
Formal acceptance of the federal
to operate such a terminal
!l P 6
cannot be made until the project has
lined up users and received the ap
proval of Gov. William P. Cle
ments. But Casey was authorized by
the board to send a letter to the fed
eral government accepting the
license terms.
The authority planned to finance
the $1.2 billion in bonds for the
terminal construction from user
agreements made with oil and
chemical companies. Those com
panies signing agreements would
pay approximately 25 percent less
per barrel of oil than other com
panies using the terminal.
BI agent at Davis trial
stiftes on hugging McCrory
United Press International
FORT WORTH, Texas — An FBI
tot testifying in the retrial of T.
ui ollen Davis described Tuesday
)»the state’s star witness was rig-
with wires and electronic de-
i so agents could listen to his
ftings with the Fort Worth mil-
taire.
Agent Jerry Hubble said prosecu-
witness David McCrory had
nl ires and microphones taped to his
r» with wires running down his
gsand out to his arms.
Much of the testimony involved
lat brand the receivers were, how
>y functioned and what quality of
sound they would reproduce.
The state appeared to be using
the testimony as a prelude to play
ing tapes of McCrory-Davis meet
ings in which Davis allegedly
claimed he wanted 15 people killed,
including his divorce judge.
Davis, whose first trial in Hous
ton ended with a hung jury, is al
leged to have forced McCrory, a
friend and employee, to hire a pro
fessional killer to slay District Judge
Joe Eidson.
McCrory turned state’s evidence
in the plot and was used by te FBI
to trap Davis. No one was injured in
the alleged scheme.
theft in conspiring to defraud oil
companies of money by submitting
credit card slips for goods that actu
ally were never bought.
SP employees and service station
operators apparently worked out
their own arrangements, often deal
ing in cash, merchandise or credit,
DeHart said.
“It was a complex scheme. It took
us about two months to figure out
what those guys were doing,” he
said.
DeHart said it was unclear
whether violations had occurred
outside Texas, but added, “I’d be
surprised if it’s not rampant all up
and down the (Southern Pacific)
line.”
He said losses in Brewster
County alone amounted to $380,000
so far, but added that Southern
Pacific “detectives tell me they ex
pect the loss to be over a million
dollars before they get through.”
DeHart said seven defendants in
dicted in June pleaded guilty and
had each received probated terms of
10 years or less and made restitution
in exchange for future testimony.
Southern Pacific Transportation
Co. spokesman Jim Loveland, con
tacted Tuesday in San Francisco,
said the firm is continuing its own
investigation.
Asked whether the abuse was
confined to Texas, Loveland said, “I
don’t know if that’s a fair assumption
to make. I don’t want to rule out the
possibility of it being elsewhere.”
The spokesman declined to dis
cuss specifics of the case, but said
Southern Pacific had taken steps to
plug holes within its purchasing sys
tem.
“We just don’t want to say much
about it at this point,” he added.
“Whenever we find any wrongdo
ing, we ll certainly prosecute those
people and take te necessary ac
tions.”
DeHart said although inves
tigators are still seeking the
scheme’s “kingpins,” Southern
Pacific has felt an impact from ear
lier arrests.
“The railroad’s charges have al
ready dropped off since we made
this investigation,” he said.
Unconfirmed reports by some
sources placed losses at $2.5 million
to $3 million.
The
UnfiWES
are bach/
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