A lawsuit very similar to the bid-rigging lawsuit filed in Oklahoma City federal court against Chesapeake Energy, SandRidge Energy and oilman Tom L. Ward has been filed in Woods County District court in Alva.
The suit was filed by Harold Koppitz of Alva, accusing the three of a conspiracy from 2007 to 2012 to depress the market for purchases of oil and natural gas leasehold interests in the state. Like the suit filed last month following the indictment of the late Aubrey McClendon, it seeks to be a class-action suit. McClendon is listed in the suit as an unnamed co-conspirator. He was originally indicted on bid-rigging charges in federal court.
The law firm of Pate and Wolfe located in Oklahoma City filed he suit March 29 and seeks more than $10,000 in relief. The suit case number in Woods County District Court is CJ-2016-00019.
Chesapeake, SandRidge and Ward were named in a federal lawsuit filed by a Colorado man who is a land owner in Woods County. The suit, filed in Oklahoma City federal court was filed a day after McClendon died in a traffic crash in Oklahoma City. The manner of death has yet to be ruled by the State Medical Examiner. Just as it seeks the recover treble damages, so does the Woods County lawsuit. A day after McClendon’s death, federal prosecutors dropped the charge against him.
