Did Your Broker Recommend Miller Energy?

Miller Energy Resources Inc., an oil and gas driller that operates in Alaska, filed for bankruptcy protection on October 1, 2015. The filing came after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the company and three officials of allegedly inflating the value of the company's Alaska oil and gas properties by $400 million. Miller was delisted by the New York Stock Exchange. The company is more than $170 million in debt. The SEC’s Division of Enforcement alleged that after acquiring assets in Alaska’s Cook Inlet area in 2009, Miller Energy overstated their value by more than $400 million, which in turn boosted the company’s net income and total assets. By allegedly inflating the valuation, it turned a penny-stock company into a company that reached a high of nearly $9 per share in 2013.  According to the SEC, Miller Energy paid $2.25 million, assuming certain liabilities to purchase the Alaska properties and then later reported them at a value of $480 million including double counting $110 million in fixed assets. Miller owes more than $200 million to numerous companies, including several in Alaska that support its operations. When oil prices plummeted, Miller Energy collapsed because they could not meet their obligations in the new lower oil price environment.
The Miller bankruptcy was due not only to sliding oil prices but also to investments in Cook Inlet that didn't pan out as they hoped.  Other factors that contributed to the bankruptcy include the financial restructuring plan that fell apart.  There was also an effort by a pair of oil field service companies to allegedly push Miller into bankruptcy, and the allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Miller inflated the value of Cook Inlet property it acquired in 2009.
The bankruptcy of Miller Energy and dozens of other oil and gas companies have left investors with devastating and irreplaceable losses to their portfolios.  Many of these investors made it clear to their brokers/financial advisors they were conservative investors not wanting an over-concentration of high-risk energy stocks.  Soreide Law Group has represented many clients in FINRA arbitrations against the broker/dealers who placed the conservative portfolios of our clients into high-risk oil and gas stocks.
If you’ve suffered devastating losses through the recommendation of you broker in the now bankrupt, Miller Energy, or other high-risk oil and gas stocks, call Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost to you regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group represents our clients nationwide through FINRA and we operate on a contingency fee basis.  Let our experience work for you.