The Justice Department is investigating one of the largest oil and gas frackers in the country, Chesapeake Energy, for possibly violating antitrust laws and market manipulation.
Chesapeake Energy revealed in Thursday filings that it received a Justice Department subpoena as part of a federal investigation aimed at “possible violations of federal and state antitrust laws relating to our purchase and lease of oil and natural gas rights in various states.”
The company also said that state governments and the U.S. Postal Service are involved in probing Chesapeake’s royalty payments.
“We have engaged in discussions with the DOJ, U.S. Postal Service and state agency representatives and continue to respond to such subpoenas and demands,” read the company’s Thursday filing with Securities and Exchange Commission.
News of the investigation follows the death of the company’s former CEO, Aubrey McClendon, who had been indicted by a federal grand jury in March for conspiring to rig oil and gas bids in Oklahoma just before dying in a fatal car crash.
Chesapeake said it has “engaged in discussions” with the Justice Department, U.S. Postal Service, and state agency representatives, and continues “to respond to such subpoenas and demands,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
