Amado Yanez has been under police supervision whilerecovering in a hospital from surgery, but has now been formally charged.
Mexico took control of Oceanografia in February afterCitigroup said it lost $400m on loans granted to the company based onfraudulent invoices.
Oceanografia was also banned from bidding forgovernment contracts for 21 months after allegedly violating agreements with stateoil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) from which it had gained 97% of itsrevenues.
The contract ban prompted Citigroup to review itsloans with Oceanografia, and determined that only $185m of the collateralbacking $585m of loans could be verified.
Two weeks ago Singapore-basedoffshore vessel operator PACC Offshore Services Holdings revealed a potential$4.6m impact from having chartered six vessels to Oceanografia. It has begun legal proceedings to gain control of a joint-venturecompany it set up with Yanez.
Oceanografia had more than 11,000 employees and 69ships prior to the government seizure. Yanez, who controlled 80% of the company,has run it since 1994 after taking over from his father.
The case is under investigation by banking regulatorsin Mexico as well as the US Securities and Exchange Commission and JusticeDepartment.
