Exxon, New York prosecutors face off in climate change fraud trial

(Reuters News, 22 Oct 2019) A lawsuit filed by New York's attorney general last year accused Exxon of defrauding investors out of up to $1.6 billion by hiding the true cost of future climate regulations, which the oil major denies.

A lawyer for New York's attorney general on Tuesday told a state judge Exxon Mobil Corp used two sets of books to hide the true cost of climate change regulations from investors, while an attorney for the oil major assailed the claims as false and politically motivated.

The lawyers' opening statements kicked off a long-awaited trial in a civil lawsuit filed by the attorney general last year accusing Exxon of defrauding investors out of up to $1.6 billion.

The trial, expected to last up to three weeks, will take place before Justice Barry Ostrager in Manhattan Supreme Court without a jury and could feature testimony from Rex Tillerson, who served as Exxon chief executive officer and U.S. Secretary of State.

It is the first of several lawsuits currently pending against major oil companies related to climate change to go to trial.

The attorney general sued Exxon in October 2018 under the Martin Act, a New York state law that had been used primarily to go after financial fraud.

The lawsuit claimed Exxon falsely told investors it had properly evaluated the impact of future climate regulations on its business using a "proxy cost" of up to $80 per ton of carbon emissions, but internally used figures as low as $40 per ton or none at all.

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Reuters News, 22 Oct 2019: Exxon, New York prosecutors face off in climate change fraud trial