Business Notes SCAMS

To several hard-pressed Indian tribes, the millions of gallons of oil and gas flowing from reservation wells have meant the difference between crushing poverty and financial stability. Now the Senate Special Committee on Investigations reports that one oil company may have stolen as much as 1.9 million bbl., worth $31 million, from the tribes since 1986. In hearings before the committee last week, investigators told of concealing themselves near remote oil-storage depots in Oklahoma earlier this spring to watch employees of Wichita-based Koch Industries transferring oil from Osage tribal storage tanks to trucks. According to witnesses, Koch employees typically reported removing only 100 bbl. of oil for every 101 bbl. actually taken. Arizona's Democratic Senator Dennis DeConcini, chairman of the committee, said he would refer the matter to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.