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Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawsuit, Oil Company Fraud
Accountant Whistleblower Bounty Lawsuit, Petroleum
Accountant Fraud Whistleblower Bounty Lawsuit, Texas Oil
Company Production
Fraud Lawsuit, and
Texas Operator Production Fraud Lawsuit Information
by Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawyer, Petroleum Accountant
Whistleblower Bounty Lawyer, and Oil Company Accounting Fraud
Whistleblower Lawyer Jason S. Coomer
Oil Company
Accounting Fraud Lawyer, Petroleum Accountant Fraud
Whistleblower Lawyer, and
Oil Company Accounting Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer Jason S. Coomer helps
petroleum accountants, petroleum executives, and other
petroleum professions blow the whistle on oil company
accounting fraud, oil company royalty interest fraud, oil
company working interest fraud, and other oil company fraud. If you have
evidence of oil company fraud,
please feel free to
contact Texas Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawyer, Petroleum
Accountant Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, and Oil Company
Accounting Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer,
Jason S. Coomer or
use our contact submission form.
Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawyer, Oil Company Fraud
Accountant Whistleblower Bounty Lawyer, Petroleum Accountant Fraud
Whistleblower Bounty Lawyer, Texas Oil Company Production
Fraud Lawyer, and
Texas Operator Production Fraud Lawyer
Oil Company Fraud including Oil
Company Accounting Fraud, Oil Company Royalty Fraud, Oil
Company Tax Fraud, Oil Company Working Interest Fraud, and
Oil Company Production Fraud are forms of corporate fraud
that can result in qui tam lawsuits, shareholder lawsuits,
bounty actions, class actions, and several other types of
fraud litigation. Petroleum professionals including
petroleum accountants, petroleum executives, and other oil
company employees with original information of significant
oil company accounting fraud, oil company royalty fraud, oil
company tax fraud, oil company working interest fraud,
and/or oil company production fraud by a large oil company
may be able to collect a large reward through several
whistleblower laws.
The key to obtaining a large
whistleblower award is to make sure that as the
whistleblower you are the first to file with sufficient
evidence of significant fraud.
Oil Company Under Payment of Royalties False Claims Act
Lawsuit, Oil Company Oil Royalty Accounting Fraud
Whistleblower Lawsuit, Oil Company Fraud Accountant
Whistleblower Qui Tam Lawsuit, Petroleum Accountant Fraud
Whistleblower Lawsuit, Texas Oil Company Production
Fraud Lawsuit, and
Texas Operator Production Fraud Lawsuit Information
by Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawyer, Petroleum Accountant
Whistleblower Lawyer, and Oil Company Accounting Fraud Qui
Tam Lawyer Jason S. Coomer
One area of Oil Company
Accounting Fraud Whistleblower cases are the Oil Company
Fraud Qui Tam Lawsuits, Oil Company Federal False Claims Act
Whistleblower Lawsuits, and Oil Company Fraud Lawsuits under
State False Claims Act Statutes. These traditional oil
company accounting fraud whistleblower cases have been
common over the last twenty years and unusually are based on
the Oil Company underpaying royalties and/or violating
federal statutes. Below are some of these lawsuits
where the United States Department of Justice has forced oil
companies to pay hundreds of millions of dollars based on
qui tam whistleblower lawsuits.
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 16, 2011 BP AMOCO TO PAY U.S.
$20.5 MILLION TO RESOLVE ALLEGATIONS OF ROYALTY
UNDERPAYMENTS FROM INDIAN AND FEDERAL LANDS
WASHINGTON – BP Amoco Corp. (formerly
Amoco Corp.), Amoco Production Company, BP Exploration & Oil
Inc., BP America Inc., Atlantic Richfield Company and Vastar
(the BP defendants) have agreed to pay the United States
$20.5 million to resolve claims that the companies violated
the False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed
on natural gas produced from federal and Indian leases, the
Justice Department announced today.
Congress has authorized federal and
Indian lands to be leased for the production of natural gas
in exchange for the payment of royalties on the value of the
gas that is produced. Each month companies are required to
report to the U.S. Department of the Interior the amount of
royalty that is due. This settlement resolves claims that
the BP defendants improperly deducted from the royalty
values they reported the cost of boosting gas up to pipeline
pressures improperly reported processed gas as unprocessed
gas to reduce royalty payments on federal and Indian leases,
and improperly failed to perform “dual accounting” on
certain federal leases.
The settlement explicitly excludes, and
does not resolve, any claims the United States or the BP
defendants have related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
“Natural gas royalties provide an
important source of income for the United States, Native
Americans, and various states, and help support critical
programs from which we all benefit,” said Tony West,
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the
Department of Justice. “Through cases like this, we are
keeping our commitment to protect public lands and to ensure
that companies who take non-renewable resources from those
lands pay their fair share of royalties.”
“We remain committed to ensuring that
energy companies accurately report production and pay the
required royalties,” said Rhea Suh, Department of the
Interior Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and
Budget. “We will continue to pursue every dollar due to
taxpayers and the Federal Government from energy production
that occurs on Federal and American Indian lands.”
The settlement arises from a lawsuit
filed by Harrold Wright under the False Claims Act. Under
the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the act,
private citizens may file actions on behalf of the United
States and share in any recovery. Because Mr. Wright is
deceased, his heirs will receive $5.3 million. The United
States initially declined to intervene against the BP
defendants, but intervened for the purpose of completing
this settlement. Settlements in the case to date total
approximately $270 million.
The investigation and settlement of these
matters was jointly handled by the Justice Department’s
Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Eastern District of Texas, with assistance from the
Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources
Revenue Office of the Solicitor and Office of Inspector
General.
The case is U.S. ex rel. Wright v.
Chevron USA, Inc. et al., 5:03-CV-264 (E.D. Tex.).
The Justice Department’s total recoveries
in False Claims Act cases since January 2009 are more than
$7.5 billion.
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Shell Oil Companies
to Pay $2.2 Million to Resolve Allegations of Royalty
Underpayments from Federal Lands
WASHINGTON – Shell Oil Company and other
Shell affiliates have agreed to pay the United States $2.2
million to resolve claims that the companies violated the
False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on
natural gas produced from federal leases, the Justice
Department announced today. Shell Oil Company is the
U.S.-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational
oil company, and is a leading producer of oil and natural
gas.
Congress has authorized federal and
Indian lands to be leased for the production of natural gas
in exchange for the payment of royalties on the value of the
gas that is produced. Each month companies are required to
report to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) the
amount of royalty that is due. This settlement resolves
claims by the United States that the Shell defendants
improperly deducted from royalty values the cost of boosting
gas up to pipeline pressures, and improperly reported
processed gas as unprocessed gas to reduce royalty payments.
In June 2003, Shell paid $56 million to
settle claims that it knowingly underpaid royalties related
to natural gas and natural gas liquids produced from federal
lands located in the Gulf of Mexico. Today’s settlement
resolves claims related to Shell’s on-shore federal leases.
“Natural gas is a non-renewable resource.
When the United States allows companies to remove gas from
public lands that belong to all of us, we must require those
companies to pay all of the royalties they owe, because
those funds support important federal programs from which we
all benefit,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for
the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “Through
cases like this, we are keeping our commitment to protect
public lands and the valuable resources they contain."
“We are required to ensure that energy
companies accurately report production and pay the required
royalties,” said Chris Henderson, Acting Assistant Secretary
for the DOI’s Office of Policy, Management and Budget. “We
will continue to pursue any case where companies do not
follow the rules.”
Today’s settlement arises from a lawsuit
filed by Harrold Wright under the False Claims Act. Under
the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the act,
private citizens may file actions on behalf of the United
States and share in any recovery. Because Mr. Wright is
deceased, his heirs will receive $572,000 as their share of
the settlements. The United States intervened against Shell
for the purpose of completing this settlement, and had
previously intervened as to the claims settled in 2003, but
had otherwise declined to intervene in the allegations
against Shell. The Justice Department previously intervened
against several other defendants in the Wright lawsuit.
Total settlements in the case to date exceed $233 million.
The investigation and settlement of this
matter was jointly handled by the Justice Department’s Civil
Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of
Texas, with assistance from the Department of the Interior’s
Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Office of the Solicitor
and Office of the Inspector General.
The case is U.S. ex rel. Wright v.
Chevron USA, Inc. et al., 5:03-CV-264 (E.D. Tex.) .
$21.5 million from Union
Oil Company of California (Unocal) for allegedly underpaying
the Department of Interior royalties owed for oil extracted
from federal lands. Unocal was the last of 16 major oil
companies to settle claims in four related qui tam actions
in which more than $430 million was recovered by the federal
government, plus an additional $10 million on behalf of
Native Americans for similar losses suffered on tribal
lands.
Chevron Corporation agreed to pay the
U.S. $86.2 million to resolve whistleblower claims under the
False Claims Act that the corporation and affiliated
companies underpaid royalties due for oil produced on
federal and Indian leases since 1988.
Mobil Oil Corporation agreed to pay
the U.S. $45 million, and Oxy-USA, Inc. paid $7.3 million,
to resolve similar claims of underpayment of royalties.
$49 million from Shell Oil Company to
settle allegations that Shell improperly vented and flared
gas from various offshore leases with the Interior
Department. The suit also alleged that Shell underreported
and underpaid royalties on the vented and flared gas. In
2000 and 2001, Shell paid the United States $56 million and
$110 million to settle two earlier cases involving underpaid
royalties owed the United States on natural gas and oil,
respectively.
PHILLIPS PETROLEUM PAYS $8 MILLION TO RESOLVE OIL
ROYALTY CLAIMS MORE THAN $415 MILLION PAID TO DATE BY 15
COMPANIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Phillips Petroleum
Company has agreed to pay $8 million to resolve claims under
the False Claims Act that the company underpaid royalties
due for oil produced on federal and Indian leases from
January 1, 1988 to December 31, 1998, the Justice Department
announced today.
Federal leases are administered by the
Minerals Management Service of the Department of the
Interior. Each month, oil companies are required to report
the amount of oil produced and the value of the oil produced
on federal and Indian leases. The companies pay royalties
based upon the value of the oil they report.
J. Benjamin Johnson, Jr., and John
Martinek filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in
Lufkin, Texas against the Bartlesville, Oklahoma company on
behalf of the United States under the qui tam or
whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. The two
will share in the proceeds of the settlement.
Prior to today's agreement with Phillips,
the Justice Department had reached settlements of more than
$409 million with14 other oil companies to resolve claims of
underpayment of royalties. Previously, the Department had
reached agreements with Mobil Oil, $45 million;
Oxy USA, Inc., $7.3 million; Chevron, $95
million; Conoco, $26 million; BP Amoco,
$32 million; Texaco, $43 million;
Pennzoil, $11.9 million; UPRC, $2.7 million; Sun Oil
Company, $200,000; Exxon Mobil for $7 million; Shell Oil,
$110 million; Burlington Resources, $8.5 million; Marathon,
$7.7 million and Kerr-McGee, $13 million.
The investigation and settlement of the
False Claims Act proceedings were jointly handled by the
Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of Texas and the Civil Division of the Department
of Justice, with the assistance of the Department of the
Interior's Office of Inspector General and the Minerals
Management Service.
The case is entitled US ex rel. Johnson
v. Shell Oil Co., Civil No. 9:96CV66 (E.D. Texas).
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 22, 2011 Occidental Oil
Companies to Pay $2.05 Million to Resolve Allegations of
Royalty Underpayments from Federal Land
WASHINGTON – Occidental Petroleum
Corporation, Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation, and OXY USA
Inc. have agreed to pay the United States $2.05 million plus
interest to resolve claims that the companies violated the
False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on
natural gas produced from federal leases, the Department of
Justice announced today. Occidental Petroleum Corporation is
an international oil and gas exploration and production
company headquartered in Los Angeles.
Congress has authorized federal land to
be leased for the production of natural gas in exchange for
the payment of royalties on the value of the gas that is
produced. Each month, companies are required to report to
the Department of the Interior the amount of royalty that is
due. This settlement resolves claims that the Occidental oil
companies improperly deducted from the royalty values they
reported the cost of boosting gas up to pipeline pressures,
and failed to properly report and pay royalties related to a
natural gas keep-whole agreement, pool pricing for gas and
gas re-sold to affiliates.
“Natural gas royalties provide an
important source of federal and state income that is
essential to support education, critical infrastructure
improvements, and natural disaster protection, among other
things,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the
Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “The Justice
Department will protect public lands to ensure that when
companies are given the opportunity to extract non-renewable
resources from those lands, they pay their fair share of
royalties.”
“We remain committed to ensuring that
energy companies accurately report production and pay the
required royalties,” said Chris Henderson, Acting Assistant
Secretary for the Department of the Interior’s Office of
Policy, Management and Budget. “We will continue to pursue
every dollar due to taxpayers and the federal government
from energy production that occurs on federal and American
Indian lands.”
The settlement arises from a lawsuit
filed by Harrold Wright under the False Claims Act against
the Occidental oil companies as well as a number of other
companies. Under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions
of the Act, private citizens may file actions on behalf of
the United States and share in any recovery. Because Harrold
Wright is deceased, his heirs will receive $91,000, plus
interest, as his share of the settlement. The United States
initially declined to participate in this case, but was
actively involved in the discussions that led to this
settlement. The current settlement brings the total recovery
in the case to approximately $230 million.
The investigation and settlement of this
matter were jointly handled by the Justice Department’s
Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern
District of Texas, with assistance from the Department of
the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Office
of the Solicitor and Office of Inspector General.
MARATHON OIL TO PAY $7.7 MILLION TO RESOLVE CLAIMS OF
UNDERPAYMENT OF OIL ROYALTIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Marathon Oil Company has agreed to
pay the United States
$7.7 million to resolve claims under the
False Claims Act and administrative claims that the
Houston-based corporation underpaid royalties due for oil
produced on federal and Indian leases between 1988 and 1998,
the Justice Department announced today.
Federal leases are administered by the
Minerals Management Service of the Department of the
Interior. Each month, Marathon is required to report the
amount and value of oil produced on federal leases. The oil
company pays royalties based upon the value of the oil they
report.
J. Benjamin Johnson, Jr., and John
Martinek filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Lufkin,
Texas against Marathon on behalf of the United States under
the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims
Act. They share in the proceeds of the settlement.
Including today's agreement with
Marathon, the Justice Department has reached settlements of
more than $400 million to resolve claims of underpayment of
royalties with 13 other oil companies. Previously, the
Department had reached agreements with Mobil Oil, $45
million; Oxy USA, Inc., $7.3 million; Chevron, $95 million;
Conoco, $26 million; BP Amoco, $32 million; Texaco, $43
million; Pennzoil, $11.9 million; UPRC, $2.7 million; Sun
Oil Company, $200,000; Exxon Mobil for $7 million; Shell
Oil, $110 million; Kerr-McGee, $13 million; and Burlington,
$8.5 million.
The investigation and settlement were
jointly handled by the Office of the United States Attorney
for the Eastern District of Texas and the Civil Division of
the Department of Justice, with the assistance of the
Department of the Interior's Office of Inspector General and
the Minerals Management Service.
The case is entitled US ex rel. Johnson
v. Shell Oil Co., Civil No. 9:96CV66 (E.D. Texas).
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 10, 2011 SHELL OIL COMPANIES TO PAY
$2.2 MILLION TO RESOLVE ALLEGATIONS OF ROYALTY UNDERPAYMENTS
FROM FEDERAL LANDS
WASHINGTON – Shell Oil Company and other
Shell affiliates have agreed to pay the United States $2.2
million to resolve claims that the companies violated the
False Claims Act by knowingly underpaying royalties owed on
natural gas produced from federal leases, the Justice
Department announced today. Shell Oil Company is the
U.S.-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational
oil company, and is a leading producer of oil and natural
gas.
Congress has authorized federal and
Indian lands to be leased for the production of natural gas
in exchange for the payment of royalties on the value of the
gas that is produced. Each month companies are required to
report to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) the
amount of royalty that is due. This settlement resolves
claims by the United States that the Shell defendants
improperly deducted from royalty values the cost of boosting
gas up to pipeline pressures, and improperly reported
processed gas as unprocessed gas to reduce royalty payments.
In June 2003, Shell paid $56 million to
settle claims that it knowingly underpaid royalties related
to natural gas and natural gas liquids produced from federal
lands located in the Gulf of Mexico. Today’s settlement
resolves claims related to Shell’s on-shore federal leases.
“Natural gas is a non-renewable resource.
When the United States allows companies to remove gas from
public lands that belong to all of us, we must require those
companies to pay all of the royalties they owe, because
those funds support important federal programs from which we
all benefit,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for
the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “Through
cases like this, we are keeping our commitment to protect
public lands and the valuable resources they contain."
“We are required to ensure that energy
companies accurately report production and pay the required
royalties,” said Chris Henderson, Acting Assistant Secretary
for the DOI’s Office of Policy, Management and Budget. “We
will continue to pursue any case where companies do not
follow the rules.”
Today’s settlement arises from a lawsuit
filed by Harrold Wright under the False Claims Act. Under
the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the act,
private citizens may file actions on behalf of the United
States and share in any recovery. Because Mr. Wright is
deceased, his heirs will receive $572,000 as their share of
the settlements. The United States intervened against Shell
for the purpose of completing this settlement, and had
previously intervened as to the claims settled in 2003, but
had otherwise declined to intervene in the allegations
against Shell. The Justice Department previously intervened
against several other defendants in the Wright lawsuit.
Total settlements in the case to date exceed $233 million.
The investigation and settlement of this
matter was jointly handled by the Justice Department’s Civil
Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of
Texas, with assistance from the Department of the Interior’s
Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Office of the Solicitor
and Office of the Inspector General.
The case is U.S. ex rel. Wright v.
Chevron USA, Inc. et al., 5:03-CV-264 (E.D. Tex.) .
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, August 20, 2010 Dominion &
Marathon Oil to Pay $6.9 Million to Resolve Allegations of
Royalty Underpayments from American Indian and Federal Lands
WASHINGTON – Dominion Oklahoma Texas
Exploration & Production Inc. and Marathon Oil Company have
agreed to pay the United States $2,219,974.98 and
$4,697,476.57, respectively, to resolve claims that the two
companies separately violated the False Claims Act by
knowingly underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced
from federal and Indian leases, the Justice Department
announced today. Marathon is among the world’s leading
integrated energy companies with operations around the
globe, and Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers
and transporters of energy.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) (formerly known as the
Minerals Management Service) of the U.S. Department of the
Interior is responsible for collecting and disbursing
royalties from energy production that occurs on federal and
American Indian lands, both on shore and offshore. Each
month, companies are required to report to BOEM the value of
the natural gas produced from their federal and Indian
leases and to pay a percentage of the reported value as
royalties. These settlements resolve claims that Dominion
and Marathon improperly deducted from royalty values the
cost of boosting gas up to pipeline pressures, and that
Dominion improperly reported processed gas as unprocessed
gas to reduce royalty payments.
"Mineral royalties provide an important
source of income for Native Americans, the United States and
various states," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General
for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We are
committed to protecting public and Indian lands and to
ensuring that companies with leases to take natural gas from
those lands pay their fair share of royalties."
"The Department of Justice must remain
vigilant in protecting both American and tribal financial
interests from unscrupulous business practices," said John
Bales, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.
"These latest two settlements underscore that commitment."
"We will aggressively pursue every dollar
due to American citizens from energy production on federal
and American Indian lands," said BOEM Director Michael R.
Bromwich. "That means companies must accurately report and
pay the proper royalties on a monthly basis, with no
exceptions."
The settlements with Dominion and
Marathon arise from a lawsuit filed by Harold Wright under
the False Claims Act. Under the qui tam, or whistleblower,
provisions of the act, private citizens may file actions on
behalf of the United States and share in any recovery.
Because Mr. Wright is deceased, his heirs will receive a
$1.822 million share of the settlements. The Justice
Department intervened against several defendants in the
Wright lawsuit. Settlements in the case to date include
agreements with Burlington Resources for $105.3 million,
with Shell for $56 million, with Chevron, Texaco and Unocal
for $45.5 million, and with Mobil for $32.2 million.
The investigation and settlement of these
matters were jointly handled by the Justice Department’s
Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern
District of Texas, with assistance from the Department of
the Interior’s Office of Inspector General, BOEM and Office
of the Solicitor.
The case is U.S. ex rel. Wright v.
Chevron USA, Inc. et al., 5:03-CV-264 (E.D. Tex.)
Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, April 5, 2010 Mobil Oil Companies
to Pay U.S. $32.2 Million to Resolve Allegations of
Underpayment of Royalties from American Indian and Federal
Lands
WASHINGTON – Mobil Natural Gas Inc.,
Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. and their affiliates
have agreed to pay the United States $32.2 million to
resolve claims that they violated the False Claims Act by
knowingly underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced
from federal and American Indian leases, the Justice
Department announced today. The Mobil companies are alleged
to have systematically under reported the value of natural
gas taken from the leases from March 1, 1988, to Nov. 30,
1999, and, consequently, paid less royalties than owed to
the United States and various American Indian tribes.
The settlement with the Mobil companies
arises from a lawsuit filed by Harold Wright on behalf of
the United States. The qui tam or whistleblower provisions
of the False Claims Act allow private citizens to file
actions on behalf of the United States and to share in any
recovery. Because Mr. Wright is deceased, his heirs will
receive a $975,000 share of the settlement.
The Justice Department partially
intervened against the Mobil defendants in the Wright
lawsuit, and previously settled with Burlington Resources
Inc. for $105.3 million, Shell Oil Co. for $56 million,
Chevron Corporation, Texaco and Unocal Incorporated for
$45.5 million and Dominion Exploration and Production Co.
for $2 million. The Mobil companies were merged into and
became subsidiaries of ExxonMobil, the world’s largest
publically traded international oil and gas company in
November 1999.
"The message to those who seek to evade
their mineral royalty obligations is this: We will
aggressively pursue you," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney
General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.
"We at the Justice Department are committed to protecting
the public trust by ensuring that those who remove valuable
minerals, some of which are non-renewable, from American
Indian or public lands pay their full, fair, negotiated
share for those assets."
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) of
the U.S. Department of the Interior is responsible for
overseeing the collection of royalties on federal and
American Indian leases, as well as federal offshore lands on
the Outer Continental Shelf. Each month, companies are
required to report to MMS the value of the natural gas
produced from their federal and American Indian leases and
to pay a percentage of the reported value as royalties. The
United States alleged that the Mobil companies used
transactions with affiliated entities to falsely reduce the
reported value of gas taken from federal and American Indian
leases, to claim excessive deductions for the cost of
transporting that gas, and to otherwise understate the value
they reported each month for their natural gas production.
"This settlement closes another important
portion of long-standing litigation that MMS participated in
to ensure that taxpayers receive their fair share of royalty
revenues from energy production that occurs on federal
lands," said MMS Director Liz Birnbaum. "The revenues
collected from the settlement will be disbursed to
appropriate Federal, state and American Indian accounts that
were affected by the underpayment of royalties."
The investigation of and settlement with
the Mobil Defendants was jointly handled by the U.S.
Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas and the Civil
Division of the Department of Justice, with the assistance
of the Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector
General, Minerals Management Service, and Office of the
Solicitor.
The case is U.S. ex rel. Wright v.
Chevron USA, Inc. et al., 5:03-CV-264 (E.D. Tex.)
Oil Company Securities Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuit,
Oil Company SEC Whistleblower
Incentive Program Lawsuit, Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawsuit,
Petroleum Accountant Whistleblower Reward Lawsuit, &
Petroleum Oil Future Fraud
Bounty Lawsuit InformationSecurities fraud, also known as stock fraud and
investment fraud, is the unlawful practice of inducing investors
to make investment decisions on the basis of false
accounting information, frequently resulting in losses, in
violation of the securities laws and commodity future
market laws. Oil company whistleblower, petroleum
accountant whistleblower, and petroleum executive
whistleblower bounty action lawsuits include
deceptive practices in the stock and commodity markets,
and occur when investors are enticed to part with their
money based on fraudulent misrepresentations.
Securities fraud whistleblower
lawsuits include outright theft from
investors, theft from working interest owners, illegal
kickbacks, under reporting of royalties, and misstatements on a public company's
financial reports as well as a wide
range of other actions, including insider trading, front
running and other illegal acts on the trading floor of a
stock or commodity exchange. Evidence for a securities fraud
whistleblower lawsuit may include:
-
False or misleading
information on a company's financial statement;
-
False or misleading information
on
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings;
-
Lying
to corporate auditors;
-
Insider trading;
-
Stock manipulation schemes;
-
Embezzlement by stockbrokers;
-
Manipulation of a security’s price or volume;
-
Fraudulent or unregistered offer or sale of
securities, including Ponzi schemes, high yield
investment programs or other investment programs;
-
Brokerage Account and Retirement
Account Fraud;
-
False or misleading statements
about a company;
-
Failure to file required reports with the SEC;
-
Abusive naked short selling;
-
Theft or misappropriation of funds or securities;
-
Fraudulent conduct or other problems associated
with municipal securities transactions or public pension
plans; and
-
Bribery of foreign officials
Through new legislation the
federal government is offering financial incentives to
oil company securities fraud whistleblowers, petroleum
accountant whistleblowers, commodity fraud
whistleblowers, and other petroleum
financial fraud whistleblowers to step up and blow the
whistle on financial fraud including
the above listed forms of securities fraud that lead to
CFTC violations, SEC
violations, and fines. These new whistleblower
bounties can be collected by whistleblowers that
properly report SEC violations, financial fraud,
securities fraud, commodities fraud, and stimulus fraud.
Other forms of SEC Violations
including reporting problems with a brokerage or advisory account;
fraudulently preventing access to funds or securities;
fraudulent order
handling, trade execution, or confirmations; fraudulent
fees,
mark-ups or commissions; and inaccurate or misleading
disclosures by financial professionals, may also lead to
potential SEC bounties, if the fraudulent acts result in
fines of over $1 million and are properly reported.
Oil Company Foreign Illegal Bribe Whistleblower Lawsuit,
Oil Company Illegal Kickback Lawsuit,
Oil Company Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
Whistleblower Lawsuit, FCPA SEC Petroleum
Accountant Whistleblower
Lawsuit, SEC Whistleblower Incentive Program Lawsuit, &
Illegal Corporate Bribe
Bounty Lawsuit Information
Oil Companies that pay illegal
kickbacks and bribes to government officials and former
government officials in exchange for drilling contracts,
pipeline contracts, oil leases, offshore drilling,
mining contracts, and other
large building projects can be brought to justice and
made to pay large penalties under the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The whistleblowers that
bring these corporations to justice may be able to
collect large economic rewards under the
Securities Exchange Act (SEC Whistleblower
Bounty Actions) and the
Commodity Exchange Act (CFTC
Whisteblower Bounty Actions).
The Oil Company Illegal Bribe Whistleblower or
Petroleum Executive
Illegal Kickback Whistleblower may be entitled to not
only the amount of the illegal bribe or kickback, but
the benefit of the illegal bribe or kickback. In
cases where $100,000.00 bribe is made to obtain a $100
million pipeline, the Petroleum Executive Illegal Bribe
Whistleblower or Oil Company Illegal Kickback Whistleblower may be
entitled to 10 to 30% of the $100,000,000.00 and the
$100,000.00 translating into a $10 million to $30
million award.
Stock Manipulation Scheme Lawyer, Corporate Accounting Fraud Lawyer, Fraudulent
Accounting Lawyer, False Accounting Statement Lawyer, SEC Whistleblower
Incentive Program Lawyer, & SEC
Bounty Action Lawyer
As a Stock Manipulation Scheme Whistleblower Lawyer
and Oil Company Accounting Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, Jason S. Coomer commonly works with other powerful
financial fraud and securities fraud whistleblower lawyers
to handle large Stock Manipulation Scheme Whistleblower Lawsuits,
Oil Company Accounting Fraud Bounty Actions, Petroleum
Company False
Accounting Statement Bounty
Claims, and other Oil Company Multinational Corporation Accounting Fraud Lawsuits. He
also works on
Medicare Fraud
Whistleblower Lawsuits,
Defense Contractor Fraud
Whistleblower Lawsuits,
Stimulus Fraud
Whistleblower Lawsuits,
Government Contractor Fraud Whistleblower Lawsuits,
Stock Manipulation Lawsuits,
and other government fraud whistleblower lawsuits.
Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawyers, Oil Company Fraud
Accountant Whistleblower Bounty Lawyers, Petroleum
Accountant Fraud Whistleblower Bounty Lawyers, Texas Oil
Company Production
Fraud Lawyers, and
Texas Operator Production Fraud Lawyers
Oil Company Fraud including Oil
Company Accounting Fraud, Oil Company Royalty Fraud, Oil
Company Tax Fraud, Oil Company Working Interest Fraud, and
Oil Company Production Fraud are forms of corporate fraud
that can result in Qui Tam
Whistleblower Lawsuits,
SEC
Whistleblower Bounty Actions,
CFTC
Whistleblower Bounty Actions, Delaware Corporation Qui
Tam Lawsuits, IRS
Whistleblower Tax Fraud Lawsuits, and other
whistleblower reward laws.
As an Oil Company
Accounting Fraud Lawyer, Petroleum Accountant Fraud
Whistleblower Lawyer, and
Oil Company Accounting Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, Jason S. Coomer helps
petroleum accountants, petroleum executives, and other
petroleum professions blow the whistle on oil company
accounting fraud, oil company royalty interest fraud,
oil company working interest fraud, and other oil
company fraud. He also commonly works with other powerful
Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawyers,
Petroleum Accountant Fraud Whistleblower Lawyers,
Delaware Oil Company Lawyers, and Oil Company Accounting
Fraud Whistleblower Lawyers to handle large Oil
Company Illegal Kickback Whistleblower Lawsuits,
Delaware Oil Company Underpayment of Royalties Lawsuits,
Oil Company Accounting Fraud Bounty Actions, Petroleum
Company False
Accounting Statement Bounty
Claims, and other Oil Company Multinational Corporation
Accounting Fraud Lawsuits.
If you are
the original source with special
knowledge of fraud and are interested in learning more
about a potential oil company whistleblower lawsuit,
please feel free to
contact Texas Oil Company Accounting Fraud Lawyer, Petroleum
Accountant Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer, and Oil Company
Accounting Fraud Whistleblower Lawyer,
Jason S. Coomer.
The Law Offices of Jason S.
Coomer, PLLC
406 Sterzing, Second Floor
Austin, Texas 78704
(512) 474-1477
jason@texaslawyers.com
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