OKLAHOMA CITY - Shannon Lynn Reed, a former employee of Midland, Texas-based Basic Energy Services, Inc., was recently charged by a federal grand jury with five counts of wire fraud involving false vehicle registrations for the company fleet.

The United States Attorney's Office, Western District of Oklahoma, released the announcement Sept. 8.

According to the indictment, Reed was employed by Basic as an administrative coordinator and was responsible for obtaining and renewing registrations for Basic's fleet of vehicles in Oklahoma. The grand jury has charged her with faxing fraudulent check requests to Basic's Midland office for amounts that far exceeded the actual invoices from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. In turn, the indictment alleges, she took the inflated checks to the Route 66 Tag Agency in El Reno, Oklahoma, and requested that the overages be refunded to her personally, which they were. According to the indictment, Reed then deposited these checks into her own bank account and did not return any of the money to Basic.

If convicted of these fraud charges, she will be required to forfeit the proceeds, which according to the indictment, total $118,932.06. If convicted on the wire fraud charges, she could be sentenced on each count to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.