US: Bid-rigging lawsuit targets Chesapeake Energy

This lawsuit against Chesapeake and Tom Ward comes four months after a federal grand jury indicted Aubrey McClendon for allegedly fixing shale lease auctions. McClendon died a day after the indictment, at age 56, when the SUV he was driving slammed into a bridge in Oklahoma City, where he lived and worked.

Tom Ward was a former partner of McClendon and left Chesapeake back in 2006 and went on to SandRidge.

Chisholm Partners and its investors brought the suit accusing Chesapeake and Ward of working together to artificially lower prices while McClendon led his company and Ward was chief executive officer at SandRidge Energy. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $30 million in damages in the lawsuit filed July 13 in a federal court in Kansas City, Kansas.

McClendon, before his death, maintained his innocence in a federal case. Ward, in a March 29 interview with Bloomberg, declined to discuss any legal matters related to McClendon, but also noted that drillers sometimes worked together during the boom.

Full Content: Midland Reporter-Telegram

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