A US oil company has launched a legal battle for libel damages against the BBC over a series of anonymous postings on websites.
Las Vegas based Tycon Energy Corporation complains that a BBC researcher accused the company of a share dealing scam through the postings.
Now Tycon is suing the BBC for unlimited damages of more than £300,000, and an injunction banning repetition of the allegations at the centre of its claim.
The postings were removed from the Google Finance and Scam.com websites soon after they were put up, but may have remained accessible on the Motley Fool website for longer, it is alleged. The postings claimed that Tycon Energy was part of a criminal conspiracy to defraud investors through a share dealing scam, according to a High Court writ.
Tycon, an oil and gas exploration company with drilling rights on its own oil and gas reserves, says its goodwill and reputation were seriously harmed by the claims.
The anonymous posting used the email address antonydav1@hotmail.co.uk, and also the name ‘lukoloco’saying the BBC was making a programme about share dealing scams, and asked for anyone who had bought shares in Tycon to get in touch, the writ says. Tycon says the man was working for the BBC and says his mobile number started with 07711, the prefix used by all mobiles given by the broadcaster to staff.
The writ was issued by solicitors Charles Fussell.
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