The United States has filed a motion in the District of Colorado, requesting that the court stay its dismissal of a whistleblower suit and allow the government time to decide whether it will intervene.
The suit was originally brought against Kerr-McGee by former Interior Department auditor Bobby Maxwell. While a jury found that the company had defrauded the government out of $7.5 million in oil royalties, the judge ruled that Maxwell didn’t qualify to bring the suit under the False Claims Act.
The government’s motion says that its intervention would mean that the court retains jurisdiction over the suit, even if the relator is dismissed.
The Corporate Crime Reporter reported on the government’s motion on April 11, 2007.
We had previously reported on the relator’s dismissal and the jury’s verdict.