Lake Charles, LA –
On July 13 Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Lorraine R. Hyde, 63, Mandeville, LA, after an investigation revealed she failed to pay contractors she hired to complete a job.
On November 13, 2019, CPSO detectives received a complaint from a local company in reference to misapplication of contractor payments. The complainant advised detectives they entered into a barge transportation agreement with Hyde, the CEO of Genesis Venture Logistics (GVL), for her company to provide services and logistics to transport sand to a construction project, by barge from Westlake to Cameron Parish. The complainant then advised detectives in August 2019, they were contacted by several companies that were contracted out by GVL to help complete the project, stating they were not paid for the services they provided while transporting the sand.
During the investigation it was learned Hyde had used an accounts receivable financing company to initially fund the job and received over $2 million dollars from the company. The agreement was for the complainant’s company to pay the GVL invoices through the receivable financing company, to cover the upfront financing Hyde was given. It was discovered that the complainant’s company was making payments, but Hyde had failed to pay the companies she contracted out to complete the job.
After a lengthy investigation the report was turned over to the District Attorney’s Office and charges were later accepted and a warrant was issued for Hyde’s arrest. She was arrested and booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center and charged with contractor misapplication of payments. She was released later the same day on a $50,000 bond set by Judge Kendrick Guidry.