2nd Texland account used by ex-PEC honchos
Former PEC General Manager Bennie Fuelberg and former board President W.W. “Bud” Burnett were each paid thousands of dollars more from a second Texland account held at Johnson City Bank in Johnson City, while the co-op’s former legal counsel A.W. Moursund — who died several years ago — raked in more than $585,000 from the same account, Texland board Treasurer Patrick Cox said at Texland’s monthly meeting.
Those payments came in addition to more than $300,000 the trio split from a first account that was recently re-discovered at Cattleman’s National Bank in Round Mountain, where it had lain dormant since the late 1980s.
Moursund was a founder of the bank.
The Cattleman’s account in the amount of $565,000 did not generate interest during 22 years it was forgotten. Fuelberg and Burnett each took $111,600 and Moursund got $150,000.
According to information released by Texland, Moursund received $585,610 out of the account at Johnson City Bank during a six-year reporting period, while his family’s Moursund Insurance Agency earned $55,793. Fuelberg made $11,175, while Burnett received $9,422.
Cox said records of the additional payments were turned over by the Moursund & Moursund law firm, which represented PEC until the two companies parted ways this summer.
“As a result of having this information both from Johnson City Bank and Cattleman’s National Bank, this completes all the financial activity by Texland to the best of our knowledge,” he said. “We have not been able to determine if there were any other accounts that Texland maintained.”
Texland was a joint venture between PEC and the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative to build new coal-fired power plants to supply electricity to both co-ops. The project was thought dead after the Texas Public Utility Commission denied Texland the permits to build the plant.
Texland’s board of directors was re-established this summer after the Cattleman’s bank account was discovered in an attempt to track down the money’s original owners.
A letter penned by Fuelberg and Burnett in August attempted to explain why they and Moursund withdrew funds from the Cattleman’s account.
“We believe the money we were paid by Texland was earned for years of hard but ultimately successful efforts on behalf of Texland, efforts that also benefited PEC,” the men said. “Following this payment, we never received another payment from this account or Texland.”
No mention was made in that letter or in any statements about the payments from the account at Johnson City Bank, which current Texland directors said were made between 1980-1986.
“We don’t know why they didn’t disclose these payments,” current Texland President Kathryn Scanlon said. “It’s definitely a conflict of interest.”
Several other former Texland board members and executives are also listed as having received money from the account, amounting to a grand total of $718,616 in payouts.
Cox said Texland will make no effort to recover that money from the individuals who received it, though the co-op has filed suit against Cattleman’s seeking more than $1 million in interest payments it claims the co-op should have received from that bank’s account.
“Our objectives are the recovery of the Texland account and to make sure the money comes back to the rightful owners,” Cox said.
Fuelberg and Burnett have not been named in the lawsuit, he added.
For its part, Cattleman’s legal representatives have filed suit in a Blanco County district court seeking to have the money removed from their bank until a judge can decide what to do with it.
Texland legal counsel Luis Garcia said his office has received 15 boxes of legal documents from the Moursund law firm as part of the discovery process in the lawsuit, adding his staffers are still reviewing the information.
In the meantime, Cox said the Texland board will continue to lay bare the secret history of the defunct co-op, which has remained hidden for 22 years.
“Once all this is resolved, we will finally close Texland as an active cooperative,” he said. “We all thought it had been closed 20 years ago, and closing it is ultimately what we will do.”
chris@thepicayune.com