The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a $1.2 million claim in SandRidge Energy Inc.’s bankruptcy case over the termination of a whistleblower alleging inaccuracies with the company’s reporting of oil and natural gas reserves, according to the Tulsa World.
On June 16, the SEC filed a $1.2 million claim in SandRidge’s pending bankruptcy case. The claim doesn’t offer much detail other than “violations of the federal securities laws.”
The company said it is cooperating with the investigation. The SandRidge Board’s audit committee has hired an independent law firm to look into the former employee’s allegations.
“During the course of the above inquiries, the SEC issued a subpoena to the company seeking documents relating to employment-related agreements between the company and certain employees,” SandRidge said in Monday’s filing. “The company is cooperating with this inquiry and, after discussion with the staff, the company sent corrective letters to certain current and former employees who had entered into agreements containing language that may have been inconsistent with SEC rules prohibiting a company from impeding an individual from communicating directly with the SEC about possible securities law violations.”
Meanwhile, the SEC also announced several fines of companies that have run afoul of federal securities regulations that protect whistleblowers, according to the Tulsa World report.
The whistleblower provisions stem from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The SEC adopted rules in August 2011 to reflect increased protections for whistleblowers in securities cases.
