The factoring industry is heavily regulated, and factoring assets banks purchase are assigned credit ratings based on how fresh the invoices are and how likely the creditor will pay. Invoices older than a certain date must be reported as a loss by the factoring bank. 

In this case, it was discovered a division of Southwest Bank, led by Wayne Schroder, amassed millions in aged factoring invoices or fictitious invoices altogether, and sold some $13 million worth to the factoring division of TBOSA, Texas Express Funding (TEF), misrepresenting them as creditable by forging records, and lying. 

Schroder and 4 others were arrested by the FBI and convicted on bank fraud charges, however, TBOSA is alleging more people had a part to play in the fraud. 

TBOSA filed a lawsuit against Southwest Bank, alleging that certain leaders at the bank knew about the fraud.  TBOSA then conducted both depositions and discovery to obtain evidence relating to their allegations. 

In the first lawsuit brought against Southwest Bank, a state district judge ruled against the plaintiffs in granting a motion for summary judgment. However, court documents explain Southwest Bank had brought a counterclaim in their defense, alleging TBOSA violated a “reliance clause” in the factoring purchase agreement that required the buyer to agree not to rely on the seller’s statements regarding the assets, and not to sue them for any purchase decision based on the sellers’ statements. 

By filing the lawsuit against Southwest Bank for fraudulently misrepresenting the factoring assets, Southwest Bank argues this constituted a breach of contract. 

Ironically, Southwest’s counterclaim has kept the lawsuit alive, and the judge signed an order creating a new, separate case allowing TBOSA to renew the allegations. 

“Although it is true that this Court previously granted summary judgment against Plaintiffs on their affirmative cause of action for fraud, such ruling did not adjudicate whether Plaintiff TEF is entitled to assert fraud as an affirmative defense to Defendant SWBF’s counterclaim for breach of contract. Thus, regardless of the Court’s prior summary judgment ruling, which Plaintiffs continue to strenuously assert was erroneous and should be reversed, this Response creates fact issues sufficient to defeat SWBF’s Motion for Summary Judgment,” the plaintiff’s most recent filing states. 

Once again, Southwest Bank has filed a motion for summary judgment asking for the court to rule in their favor and find TBOSA committed breach of contract by suing in violation of the reliance clause. 

TBOSA contends certain officers at Southwest Bank committed fraud by non disclosure, pointing to emails and text messages obtained through discovery as well as depositions that they say show bank officers knew about the fraudulent assets, but directed Schroder to sell them off anyway. 

The case explains how in July of 2019, Schroeder received a job offer from TBOSA to lead a new factoring subsidiary, TEF. 

However, he faced two obstacles to accepting this job, the first being a two year non-compete agreement held by Southwest Bank barring him from working for a competitor, and secondly, millions in toxic factoring assets accrued under several specific accounts. 

It continues saying former Southwest Bank President Dewey Bryant instructed Schroeder to “develop an exit strategy” to get these accounts out of the bank and off the books. It says Schroeder then approached Bryant, telling him he intended to sell the aged accounts to TEF/TBOSA (where he intended to go work) and requested he be released from his non-compete agreement. 

In a sworn statement from Bryant, he denies having known that Schroeder intended to sell the invoices to TBOSA. 

The case says Bryant then called a committee meeting with Southwest Bank officials that included Jeff Adams, Mike Atkins, Buzz Browning, Frank Deaderick, Lee Huff, and Paul Weaver. The committee voted to authorize Schroeder to sell the accounts, and Schroeder’s non-compete release was conditioned on the sale. 

The aged accounts sold to TBOSA totaled millions of dollars. 

The plaintiffs contend there is sufficient evidence to show both Bryant and another bank official were aware of the factoring accounts being severely aged and uncollectable, failed to properly report them in bank “charge off” reports, and by approving the sale to TBOSA and remaining silent, committed a form of fraud known as “fraud by nondisclosure.” 

“An exhaustive discussion of the evidence in this case demonstrates the knowledge of both Dewey Bryant and Paul Weaver as to the true status of the factoring accounts. This evidence also demonstrates that both men discovered potential fraud was occurring through their employee, Wayne Schroeder, in that he was faking verifications of invoices. Despite this knowledge, the Defendants did nothing and said nothing. They simply waited in silence for the transaction to close, which it did”

Plaintiff TEF’s Response to SWBF’s Counterclaim MSJ

All of the Southwest Bank defendants deny having known about the true nature of the factoring assets. 

A hearing was held this past week in the State District Court of Comal County, where attorneys for both sides presented their arguments in the case. 

A judge will now rule on Southwest Bank’s most recent motion, asking the court to rule in their favor on the breach of contract claim.

This case made widespread news when it first emerged three years ago, when Bryant, then an Odessa City Councilman, was challenging current Mayor Javier Joven for the open mayor position. 

While Bryant has since retired from his position at Southwest Bank, he has continued to be involved in Odessa politics by forming a political action committee, named “Odessans for Ethical Leadership.” 

Odessa Headlines will monitor this story for updates. 

Court Hearing Held in Bank Fraud Allegations Against Dewey Bryant, Southwest Bank   is a story from Odessa Headlines, a publication covering Ector County, Texas. Odessa Headlines’ vision is to provide quality in-depth original coverage and commentary of local issues – predominantly politics and public policy – while cross-sharing excellent coverage of state and national issues from our media partners across Texas.

Coday has been the subject of an ongoing Odessa Headlines investigation into numerous claims he has made regarding his organization, including having 46,000 members, and now claims regarding his lobbying efforts.

Past board members raised concerns with OGWA, saying they resigned after Coday refused to provide them with copies of bylaws, or financial records – with sources telling Odessa Headlines Coday uses the non-profit for personal gain.

A search into Coday’s background revealed an extensive criminal past that includes numerous theft-related criminal charges, one felony-level offense, as well as multiple charges for terroristic threat, deadly conduct, and driving while intoxicated. He is also admittedly a former drug addict.

Every attempt by Odessa Headlines to obtain the non-profit financial records for OGWA over the past seven months has been met with a fit of rage by Coday who regularly lashed out in emails and online making a wide range of accusations that ended with no records being released. It was only after Odessa Headlines gave final notice that a criminal complaint could be filed that he finally produced an Excel spreadsheet, which has raised a host of new questions.

The spreadsheet shows “membership revenue” starting in 2020 at $411, increasing to $3801 for 2021, and then dramatically increasing in 2022 to $54,281.

Coday’s membership revenue numbers directly contradict what Coday told his board members last year, with a source telling Odessa Headlines he informed his board that at the end of 2021, there was only one dues-paying member for a “total paid membership revenue of $60” — not $3801 as his spreadsheet claims.

Other public records paint a picture that the disclosures Coday finally released do not add up.

According to lobby data obtained from the Texas Ethics Commission, reports show OGWA hired a state lobbyist for several contacts in amounts ranging from $18,360 to $46,579.99, but Coday’s spreadsheet shows no expenditures have been paid to hire a lobbyist.

Further research revealed a loophole in state lobby disclosure laws, whereby a potential lobby client can inform a registered lobbyist of their intention to hire them and potentially pay them a certain amount during that period. The lobbyist then must report the client and payment range regardless of whether the client ever actually follows through on hiring and paying the lobbyist. In the case of a non-profit like OGWA, the only way to tell if it did hire/pay the lobbyist is through its public records disclosures.

The summary financial information provided by Coday does not show any payments to lobbyists  which raises a host of new questions about whether Coday has engaged in unregistered lobbying himself, with a host of posts on social media showing Coday, as the organization’s head, meeting with lawmakers to influence public policy on behalf of the organization.

While Coday’s spreadsheet indicates OGWA has grossed roughly $76 thousand in income during its lifetime, and incurred $114 thousand in expenses, Coday has claimed an Odessa Headline’s story last year reporting on lewd and sexists remarks he made online regarding a female elected official cost him “$1.2 million” in pledged and anticipated revenue.

Sources familiar with OGWA who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution and harassment say they believe Coday has received substantial donations after being prominently featured in national news broadcasts, such as a Fox News segment offering a rebuttal to the Biden Administration on oil and gas policy.

Coday’s often heated comments online indicating a potential for substantially higher revenue estimates than he has officially disclosed, combined with his refusal to release public financial records – beyond the small, unaudited spreadsheet he finally released —creates more questions than answers regarding the OGWA finances.

After Months of Stalling, Oil and Gas Workers Association Releases Financial Records Raising More Questions is a story from Odessa Headlines, a publication covering Ector County, Texas. Odessa Headlines’ vision is to provide quality in-depth original coverage and commentary of local issues – predominantly politics and public policy – while cross-sharing excellent coverage of state and national issues from our media partners across Texas.

According to a press release, “parent empowerment is built on the foundational principles of transparency, quality, respect, and choice,” and the effort is “bringing together the community to focus on this vital need in our education system.”

Abbott has made parent empowerment in education a legislative priority this session in the Texas Legislature. 

The doors open at 5 PM and the event begins at 6 PM. 

For information on location and where to register for free,  please visit this link to the event. 

<strong>Gov. Abbott To Speak at School Choice Event in Odessa </strong> is a story from Odessa Headlines, a publication covering Ector County, Texas. Odessa Headlines’ vision is to provide quality in-depth original coverage and commentary of local issues – predominantly politics and public policy – while cross-sharing excellent coverage of state and national issues from our media partners across Texas.

Here’s what we know:

APPOINTMENT TERMINATIONS

The action taken by City Council terminated the appointment of the sitting city manager and city attorney, and by definition were not firings. While the end result of the City Council’s actions is that Marrero and Brooks are no longer on the city payroll, the distinction between the terminations and firing is important.

There are a very limited number of city positions the Odessa City Council has direct control over and these include City Manager, City Attorney, City Secretary, and Municipal Court judges. All other city positions report directly or indirectly to the City Manager. 

It is fair to compare these Council controlled positions to the cabinet positions that are appointed by the President. Typically, upon election new presidents terminate the appointments of cabinet members like Secretary of State, Secretary of Commerce, etc. because it is unlikely those that served under the former president will have the same priorities, objectives and mindset as the newly elected president. Because the City of Odessa has a strong City Manager/weak City Council structure it is imperative that Council appointees are aligned with the agenda of the City Council and are willing to effectively execute the programs, plans, and agenda of City Council. If not, the elected officials of the City Council will be hamstrung and unable to carry forward the will of the voters by whom they were elected.

With the overwhelming election of Mayor Joven and Councilmembers Matta and Swanner over rival incumbents in December of 2020 Odessa voters clearly indicated that change from the previous Council was desired. However, a voting block of four Councilmembers – White, Willis, Sprawls, and Thompson – worked in lockstep with the current city administration – most notably City Manager Marrero and City Attorney Brooks – to maintain the status quo.

Two primary agenda items illustrate the contention between the newly elected members and existing city administration: removing game rooms from Odessa and increasing first responder pay to competitive levels.

GAME ROOMS

During the 2020 election Joven, Matta, and Swanner vowed to rid Odessa of the illegal game rooms which seemed to occupy every empty building in the city. Police records show local game rooms had become hotbeds of illegal activity including illegal gambling through the payout of cash prizes in excess of the $5.00 “fuzzy animal” limit, drug dealing, and appeared to have ties to human trafficking and other crimes.

Post-election Joven, Matta, and Swanner joined in efforts to either seriously curtail game room activities and their proliferation or possibly rid the city entirely through the enactment of new city ordinances. Despite a recently decided case by the Texas Second Court of Appeals out of Ft. Worth, which held that game room gambling violated the Texas Constitution, both Marrero and Brooks worked to stymie the City Council’s ordinance efforts citing a number of unfounded reasons why the city couldn’t simply shut down or restrict game rooms. Attorney Brooks often fell back on provisions in the Texas Occupational Code which had been deemed by the Court not to apply to game room activities. Marrero’s motivation appeared to be the continued collection of game room license fees which had steadily risen to almost $750,000 per year with many of the city’s 32 game rooms paying in excess of $25,000 per year in fees.  To no avail Council repeatedly asked Marrero and Assistant City Manager Cindy Muncy for details on the payments received, where the fees were logged in the City’s accounts, and where the funds were spent inside the city.  Under current Texas law any game room fees collected could only be spent on game room regulation enforcement but no evidence was provided by Marrero or Muncy indicating how the collected fees were spent. 

EMERGENCY WORKER PAY INCREASES

Citing the loss of over 180 critical staff from Odessa Fire/Rescue (OFR) ranks during the past two years, Councilmember Swanner was joined by Councilmember Matta to investigate what could be done to stem the flow of personnel losses. Swanner and Matta met with Fire Chief Alvarez and City Manager Marrero to determine what the Odessa City Council could do to help OFR, but quickly discovered a disconnect between what they were told by Chief Alvarez and the OFR rank and file that reached out to them to discuss Odessa OFR’s lack of competitive pay and morale problems.

Swanner and Matta were told by OFR personnel that a salary study had been completed by CPS HR Consulting in 2019/2020 which showed Odessa was behind the ball in firefighter salaries and that they had been told by Alvarez and Marrero that these issues had been brought before the 2020 Council but that the Council had declined in offering recommended pay increases. According to Council agendas no such requests were presented to the Odessa City Council during 2020 or 2021.

Relying on her own research, Swanner began to aggressively push for increased wages but was repeatedly rebuffed by Marrero and a voting block of four – Thompson, White, Willis, and Sprawls – who claimed the city couldn’t afford to increase emergency worker salaries and cited the need to complete a newly ordered salary study from Evergreen Solutions before moving forward with any raises.  Frustrated by the continued missed deadlines to complete the study and citing the need to move forward as OFR was losing additional personnel monthly and was currently seriously understaffed, Swanner and Matta placed increasing OFR salaries on Council’s agenda on several occasions.

Swanner proposed using unspent American Rescue Act (ARPA)/COVID relief funds issued by the federal government during the COVID crisis to pay for the raises but was told by Thompson, Marrero and Brooks ARPA funds couldn’t be used for emergency worker salaries despite the ARPA guidelines clearly stating that funds can be used for such wages and the fact that many communities across Texas such as Houston had successfully used ARPA funds for emergency worker salaries.  

It was only with the seating of new council members Hanie and Connell that raises were approved for all emergency workers at the December 13, 2022 City Council meeting.

HR MATTERS

The December 13, 2022 City Council agenda listed the following agenda items:

As noted on the agenda, the City Council planned on an open session to discuss the appointment terminations; however, as this agenda item was announced Marrero immediately announced that under the terms of his and Brooks’ contracts that they would be exercising their contractual right to hold any discussions in executive session behind closed doors. The Council adjourned to executive session as demanded by Marrero and Brooks and returned shortly to take action on the listed agenda items.

Upon the Council’s return several agitators in attendance began to shout and overtalk Mayor Joven and the meeting threatened to get out of hand.  After repeatedly threatening to wield his gavel to return order to the meeting, Council was finally able to move forward with the posted agenda.

After the meeting concluded Mayor Joven gave a short statement to local press stating that it was the Council’s belief, as evidenced by the actions they had just taken, that Odessa needed to move in a new direction with new administrative leadership and this was the cause for the termination of appointments.

Many media and social reporters have continued to question why Mayor Joven or other City Council members haven’t offered additional comment on the terminations, but employment laws, the contracts of Marrero and Brooks, and the Norris lawsuit have prohibited further comment.

Changes within government administrations are not uncommon as many Councils have found it necessary to replace key positions to advance their vision for the city to which they were elected to serve.  Locally, in the past few years both the Alpine and Pecos City Councils have completed the replacement of their City Manager and City Attorney and both cities seem to now be moving forward smoothly.  

Since election, Joven, Swanner, and Matta have expressed their desire to focus the City of Odessa government on providing quality infrastructure such as roads, water, and sewer, and to ensure that public safety departments are adequately staffed and funded to provide for public safety.  During their campaigns newly elected council members Connell and Hanie voiced support for these efforts and, based on their most recent actions, Council seems serious about fulfilling these initiatives.

Odessa Headlines will continue to follow this story.

What Happened And Why? is a story from Odessa Headlines, a publication covering Ector County, Texas. Odessa Headlines’ vision is to provide quality in-depth original coverage and commentary of local issues – predominantly politics and public policy – while cross-sharing excellent coverage of state and national issues from our media partners across Texas.

Crutcher led Nutter consistently with a roughly 60/40 lead as early voting results were released.

Final results showed Crutcher sweeping the election with 2,122 or 56.54 percent to Nutter’s 1,631 or 43.46 percent.

“I’m thrilled with the results,” Crutcher told Odessa Headlines in an exclusive statement following her victory, saying further, “The voters have spoken, and I look forward to serving Ector County and making everyone proud.”

With the retirement of incumbent Judge James Rush, the race was for an open seat with a four-year term beginning in 2023.

With no opponents in November, Crutcher will assume office in January 2023.

Crutcher Defeats Nutter in GOP Runoff for State District Judge is a story from Odessa Headlines, a publication covering Ector County, Texas. Odessa Headlines’ vision is to provide quality in-depth original coverage and commentary of local issues – predominantly politics and public policy – while cross-sharing excellent coverage of state and national issues from our media partners across Texas.

“From what we know at this moment, there are nearly 600 Afghan pilots, service-members, and their families stranded in Uzbekistan, including family members of TX-11 constituents,” Pfluger wrote, responding to a request for comment from Odessa Headlines.

“The Uzbek government is under immense pressure from the Taliban to repatriate these individuals back to Afghanistan to face reprisals. I am working with individuals across our government and in Uzbekistan to ensure our promises to these brave men and women are kept and protect them from harm’s way.”

Congressman August Pfluger

Pfluger hasn’t minced words in addressing the crisis in Afghanistan, describing the incident as the worst foreign policy catastrophe since Saigon and blasted President Joe Biden for refusing to accept responsibility for the botched exit, and for failing to protect Americans and American assets. 

“President Biden should be in the situation room day-in and day-out ensuring these two priorities are swiftly met. Instead, he remains on vacation hiding from the media and saving face from our allies, partners, and the U.S. service members and their families all of whom he failed” Pfluger wrote in an exclusive statement. 

Pfluger expanded on the importance of protecting people and property, saying it is a top priority for the United States to “provide all necessary resources to get Americans out of Afghanistan and prevent them from being subjected to the brutal Taliban regime,” and continued further saying that military weapons and technology should not fall into the hands of the Taliban. 

“All other efforts should be made towards ensuring our top-grade, tax-payer paid military assets and equipment do not fall into the hands of the Taliban,” Pfluger wrote. 

Images have littered social media and news reports of US military weapons and gear being amassed and wielded by Taliban militants after the equipment was abandoned during the Biden Administration’s botched exit.  

According to reports, the United States spent roughly $83 billion in arming the Afghan army, top-of-the-line military weapons that include everything up to combat aircraft that has now largely fallen to the benefit of America’s adversary. 

Pfluger also insisted that anyone who is currently trying to get out of Afghanistan contact his office in Washington D.C. at 202-225-3605 and that they will provide them with immediate assistance.

Congressman Pfluger: Nearly 600 Afghan Pilots, Service-Members, and Texas Family Members Stranded and in Danger is a story from Odessa Headlines, a publication covering Ector County, Texas. Odessa Headlines’ vision is to provide quality in-depth original coverage and commentary of local issues – predominantly politics and public policy – while cross-sharing excellent coverage of state and national issues from our media partners across Texas.

Odessa Headlines’ vision is to provide quality in-depth original coverage and commentary of local issues – predominantly politics and public policy – while cross-sharing excellent coverage of state and national issues from our media partners across Texas.  

Our promise to you the reader is to find stories that are important to West Texans, to always go the extra mile in our research, to honor the code of journalistic ethics, and to allow good facts to speak for themselves – so that you may be empowered with the information necessary to make your own informed decisions.  

This project is a work in progress, so stay tuned as we develop our platform to bring you new ways to enjoy our content. 

If you have any questions or story ideas, feel free to email us at news@odessaheadlines.com. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Welcome to Odessa Headlines is a story from Odessa Headlines, a publication covering Ector County, Texas. Odessa Headlines’ vision is to provide quality in-depth original coverage and commentary of local issues – predominantly politics and public policy – while cross-sharing excellent coverage of state and national issues from our media partners across Texas.