AFX Europe (Focus): Shell reserve inquiry widens as attention turns to executives – report
“Sources told The Times that the investigation was at the earliest of stages and that no arrests or indictments were foreseen at present.”
Sept 15, 2004
The US Attorney’s office in New York has demanded boxes of documents related to the alleged oil reserve fraud at Royal Dutch/Shell, signalling an escalation of a federal investigation into the scandal, The Times reported.
Federal investigators are now looking into the activities of individual directors who are named in class action lawsuits surrounding the scandal, rather than seeking to prosecute the company as a whole, the paper said.
The demand marks a shift in the inquiries under way at Shell, which had until now been involved in civil investigations led by the US SEC and the FSA.
The Times said the request was revealed in a New Jersey courtroom yesterday when lawyers presenting a class action lawsuit on behalf of US investors appeared before Judge Donald Haneke to update their claim.
Shell is accused of misleading investors by overstating its oil reserves between 1998 and last year.
Sources told The Times that the investigation was at the earliest of stages and that no arrests or indictments were foreseen at present.
el/lam
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