Two Ex-Penn West Executives To Face US SEC Fraud Charges

A U.S. judge has ordered two former finance executives at Penn West Petroleum Ltd., now known as Obsidian Energy Ltd. (NYSE: OBE), to face regulatory charges that they helped engineer a multi-year accounting fraud to reduce the Canadian company’s operating expenses.

In a decision made public on June 11, U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods in Manhattan said the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) complaint raised a “strong inference” that Todd Takeyasu and Jeffery Curran intended to defraud investors.

Prior to being terminated in 2014, Takeyasu had been Penn West’s CFO, and Curran reported to him as vice president of accounting and reporting.