Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. — one of the world’s biggest independent suppliers of physical marine fuel — filed yesterday for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York after auditors found a $300 million hole in its books, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company last week accused more than a dozen employees, including members of senior management, of orchestrating a fraud with a former affiliate. Aegean Marine said an internal investigation determined that nearly $300 million in funds was filtered to a company called OilTank Engineering & Consulting linked to a 2010 deal to build a ship bunkering terminal in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. About $200 million was listed on Aegean’s books in transactions with shell companies designed to obscure misappropriations to OilTank, which was controlled by the unnamed affiliate, the company said. The audit comes amid controversy over Aegean’s relationship with founder Dimitris Melissanidis, who was bought out in 2016. Melissanidis remained with the business as a consultant until earlier this year, when a $360 million agreement for Aegean to buy the Melissanidis-owned H.E.C. Europe Ltd. collapsed in March. A criminal probe into financial wrongdoing was launched in June by the Justice Department.
