HOUSTON — A Houston scrap metal company alleges one of its employees falsely weighed purchased metal in order to inflate the supplier's invoice.
Prestige Scrap and Metal Inc., filed a complaint April 4 in Harris County District Court against Maria Orta and Alvaro Esparza Melendez alleging violation of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code and other claims.
According to the complaint, Orta is a former employee of Prestige. Prestige alleges that for approximately two years, Orta used her access to the company's weights system to enter false information that would cause them to over-pay for the scrap metal.
They further claim Orta would weigh the scrap metal and add it to the invoice payment so Melendez, who the company purchased the scrap metal from and who drove the truck that procured the scrap metal, would receive inflated payments. Prestige alleges the defendants worked together on the scheme to commit theft, fraud and conversion of their property. They further allege that Orta misappropriated funds and that neither of the defendants was authorized to add additional weight to any inventory.
Prestige seeks monetary relief between $20,000 and $1 million, interest and all other just relief. They are represented by Thomas Nixon of The Law Office of Nixon & Associates PC in Houston.
Harris County District Court case number 2022-20345