Energy Executive Francesco Mazzagatti Faces Legal Action Over Alleged €143.8 Million Misappropriation in RockRose Acquisition.
Francesco Mazzagatti, CEO and majority owner of Viaro Energy, is at the center of a major legal dispute after being accused of misappropriating at least €143.8 million from a Singaporean trading firm, Alliance Petrochemical & Investment (API). The lawsuit, filed in London, also links Mazzagatti to financial misdeeds involving an Iranian petrochemical company, Mehr Petrochemical Co. (MHPC), which was under U.S. sanctions.
Legal Claims and Allegations
API claims that Mazzagatti, who was the CEO of the firm until 2020, faked bank statements, forged board documents, and misdirected payments meant for MHPC to his control. API alleges that he used the misappropriated funds to acquire a majority share in RockRose Energy, a UK-based energy company Viaro Energy purchased for £247 million in 2020.
The lawsuit states that Mazzagatti secretly opened accounts in the UAE and Singapore, through which customers paid for petrochemical products from MHPC. It also claims he used falsified financial documents to cover up the fraud, including a fake bank statement presented to the API board in 2021 showing a balance of nearly €25.8 million. The total amount misappropriated, according to API, is calculated to be €143.8 million, which was owed to MHPC by API.
RockRose Energy Acquisition
The lawsuit further suggests that Mazzagatti may have used the stolen funds to support Viaro Energy’s £247 million acquisition of RockRose Energy, a transaction that raised concerns within the industry. Viaro reportedly secured a £250 million loan guarantee from Sheikh Zayed bin Surror bin Mohammed Al Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi royal family to facilitate the deal. This, according to the lawsuit, was intended to quiet objections from Taqa, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned electricity company, which was concerned that RockRose's cash would be used to pay for the acquisition, leaving the company unable to meet future liabilities, including decommissioning costs for its joint ventures.
The Legal Backdrop
Viaro Energy, under Mazzagatti’s leadership, became a significant player in the UK energy market after the acquisition of RockRose. However, the RockRose deal and the alleged financial misappropriation have sparked multiple legal battles.
API is accusing Mazzagatti of using fraudulent means to acquire his stake in RockRose Energy, including the use of misappropriated funds. Taqa has separately filed a lawsuit against Mazzagatti and Viaro, alleging financial misconduct related to the sale of an oilfield and the payment of an $84 million dividend prior to the deal.
Mazzagatti and his CFO, Francesco Dixit Dominus, deny all allegations of wrongdoing. They argue that the lawsuit is a vendetta orchestrated by Arshiya Jahanpour, a former business associate, who allegedly controlled API after 2018 and orchestrated the transfer of funds. They claim that the bank accounts involved in the alleged fraud were opened under Jahanpour’s direction and that Mazzagatti was not involved in their operation.
Response and Defenses
Mazzagatti and Dixit Dominus's legal team asserts that API's claims are unfounded and that the financial transfers in question were legitimate. They further argue that Jahanpour, not Mazzagatti, was the real operator of API, and that the funds in question were procured by Jahanpour. According to the defense, the allegations against Mazzagatti and Dixit Dominus are part of an effort to wrongly assign liability for actions they did not commit.
U.S. Sanctions and Impact on MHPC
Mehr Petrochemical Co., a key player in the dispute, was placed under U.S. sanctions in 2023, prohibiting American entities from doing business with the company. The U.S. Treasury Department has stated that Mehr was involved in facilitating transactions for the Iranian government. The legal ramifications of these sanctions may impact the ongoing litigation and any potential liabilities Mazzagatti could face from the broader international financial community.
