The U.S. Department of Justice’s Chicago-based antitrust division filed a motion to dismiss the bid rigging conspiracy indictment on Thursday in federal court in Oklahoma City.
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Chesapeake Energy and SandRidge energy worked to rig bids and limit competition for oil and gas acreage in Oklahoma, a class-action suit alleges.
Aubrey McClendon, 56, a Oklahoma billionaire, who was an oil businessman and a key player in the shale energy boom of Chesapeake Energy, died in a single-car crash on Wednesday morning.
However, McClendon, a co-founder of Chesapeake, who served at the helm of the company as its chairman and chief executive officer, denied the charges, Reuters reported. Police say McClendon had time to correct and was not wearing a seatbelt.
Attorneys for a northwest Oklahoma landowner have filed a lawsuit against Oklahoma City energy giants Chesapeake Energy and Sandridge Energy in connection to a federal indictment against ex-Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon. Police said a probe of the crash likely will take up to two weeks.
“Chesapeake does not expect to face criminal prosecution or fines relating to this matter”, company spokesman Gordon Pennoyer said in a statement. On Thursday the Justice Department said it will ask to dismiss that indictment.
McClendon left Chesapeake in January 2013 amid philosophical differences with a new board of directors, and founded American Energy Partners, where he was chairman and CEO.
Sandridge previously disclosed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it was the subject of a grand jury investigation into violations of federal antitrust law and that it is cooperating with federal investigators.
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The company on Wednesday noted McClendon’s death with this statement: “Chesapeake is deeply saddened by the news we have heard today and our thoughts and prayers are with the McClendon family during this hard time”.
