Man Behind Illegal Dumping in Youngstown Flips Company Into His Wife's Name

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From the Tribune Chronicle:
The man accused of ordering one of his employees to dump oilfield waste down a storm sewer resigned from his company within weeks after the alleged incident, turning control as trustee and director over to his wife, according to documents filed Tuesday with the state's Oil and Gas Commission.
Ben Lupo, 62, of Poland, who is under indictment on allegations that he violated the federal Clean Water Act, resigned Feb. 15 as director and trustee from D&L Energy. The posts were transferred to his wife, Holly Serensky Lupo.
His signed resignation is among more than 100 pages of documents filed by his attorneys Tuesday with Ohio's Oil and Gas Commission in an attempt to regain D&L Energy's operating permits revoked by the commission.
Lupo's lawyers are really fighting to get D&L's permits back, trying to argue that the company whose employees are accused of dumping the brine is Hardrock Excavating, and that D&L Energy shouldn't be held responsible for Hardrock's wrongdoing - despite the fact that the illegal operations of the Hardrock employees were carried out under the orders of Lupo, who owned both companies.

Perhaps the idea that he would be able to shield himself from the full financial consequences of the illegal dumping and keep pulling in profits by having multiple businesses to hide behind helps to explain why Lupo was so willing to admit what he had done when he was questioned.

I think my favorite line of reasoning being used by Lupo's attorneys is this one:
The document also claims that D&L Energy has spent more than $400,000 to "voluntarily abate pollution caused by others and has severed all ties with Mr. Lupo."
So, transferring his job titles to his wife is what they consider "[severing] all ties with Mr. Lupo"?  Right...

Read the whole article here. 

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