OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Former employees of an energy company are speaking out, saying they are owed thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.
Last week, News 4 spoke to several oil field workers who claim the Weatherford-based company Leader Energy owes them each tens-of-thousands of dollars in unpaid wages after they allegedly suspended operations.
“They owe me about $6,000, about $7,000, $13,000,” the group told News 4 on Friday.
Since that story aired, News 4 started receiving emails from former employees of another company based out of Texas called Valor Coil Services.
According to former employees, both companies share the same owner, DJ Justice.
“These people destroyed families. I have two brothers that worked for us. They each lost their house. They lost their cars, their children’s vehicles,” Craig LeBlanc, the former district manager for Valor Coil, told News 4.
LeBlanc said Justice owes his about $56,000.
Others, like Valor’s former service supervisor, Shawn Burkett, told News 4 the company owes him about $40,000.
“I had money in my 401k, my IRA, I had to draw out of for a couple months and now, I’ve got to pay that back in taxes next year. That’s the only way I was able to survive,” Burkett said.
LeBlanc told News 4 that collectively, former Valor Coil employees are owed about $300,000 in payroll.
We left a message for Justice last week and never heard back.
When we stopped by Leader Energy on Monday, the door was locked. Although they allegedly suspended operations, the parking lot was full.
Some former employees wrote into News 4 saying they are still there trying to pay vendors and supply stores who frequently stop by. Some of them are allegedly owed up to $220,000.
“There’s also people that filed bankruptcy because of this whole deal, getting divorced. Like, it’s crazy the ripple effect of what the empty promises brought on,” LeBlanc said.
Weatherford police confirm to News 4 that federal agents are investigating embezzlement within Leader Energy.
Officials with the Oklahoma Department of Labor tell News 4 they have received 15 separate wage claim filings against Leader Energy Services, LLC.
The IRS is also now investigating.
