Aegean Marine Petroleum Network’s unsecured creditors have accused founder Dimitris Melissanidis of masterminding the alleged nine-figure fraud scheme that may have helped push it into bankruptcy.

As part of the company’s ongoing Chapter 11 restructuring, creditors are seeking the rights to $300m that are said to have been funnelled to shell companies.

Aegean Marine, the New York-listed bunker supplier, has previously described these entities as controlled by an “unnamed former affiliate”, but court papers filed by creditors directly link Melissanidis for the first time.