OMDA Oil and Gas, Inc. OMDA Offers Lanza Legal Update
OMDA Oil and Gas, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: OOAG) would like to take this opportunity to announce the latest developments in the Lanza et al case.
As reported in our last release, OMDA’s legal team was scheduled to depose Joe Lanza on January 7, 2008, in the Caddo Parish litigation, but the deposition was rescheduled for January 18, 2008, based upon Lanza’s new attorney’s assurances that he would guarantee Lanza’s appearance on the new date without the need to re-subpoena him. However, Lanza hired yet another new attorney and, on the afternoon prior to the deposition, filed a motion to quash the deposition and announced that Lanza would not appear. OMDA will now ask the Caddo Parish court to order Lanza to appear for his deposition and to compensate OMDA for its costs in connection with the January 18 non-appearance.
In the Harris County litigation, OMDA’s Sixth Amended Petition, filed in late 2007, added additional Lanza-related companies as defendants. Those companies challenged Texas jurisdiction over them, but the judge ruled that they were indeed subject to jurisdiction of the Texas court.
On January 25, 2008, the parties to the Harris County litigation took the deposition of DeWayne Varnadore, the Tyler, Texas, attorney who represented OMDA for a period between the fall of 2001 and summer of 2002, during the time when OMDA was controlled by Lanza. Mr. Varnadore ultimately withdrew from representation for non-payment of fees by Lanza, for which he sued and recovered a judgment. Mr. Varnadore is the attorney who incorporated OMDA Oil & Gas Management, Inc.; OMDA Oil & Gas Services, Inc. and SHWJ Oil & Gas Co., Inc. When the current management acquired control of OMDA and sought the files and documents of those companies, Lanza claimed that he, not OMDA, controlled those entities. Because of competing claims for documents in his possession, Varnadore filed an interpleader action and placed those files in the registry of the court.
Prior to the deposition, the documents were released by the court so that they would be available for use in questioning Varnadore. He testified that he received all of his instructions from Joe Lanza and that he always understood that the three companies he incorporated at Lanza’s behest were intended to be subsidiaries of OMDA’s. Documents within his files that were released by the court prior to the deposition support this view. Those documents include press releases that refer to Original Media’s “wholly owned subsidiary” acquiring the Concord Dome property in Anderson County, Texas; a “subsidiary of Original Media” acquiring a lease in Navarro County, Texas; and announcing that Mr. DeWayne Varnadore was hired to “establish two new wholly owned Texas subsidiary corporations” to hold and operate future acquisitions. Mr. Varnadore testified that those “wholly owned Texas subsidiary corporations” he established were OMDA Oil & Gas Management, Inc., and OMDA Oil & Gas Service, Inc.
The documents also support the view that Lanza passed himself off as a representative of OMDA, including signing documents on Original Media stationery and in at least one instance signing a document purportedly as Secretary of Original Media, Inc., even though he has denied being an officer or director.
Also present at the deposition, in addition to the attorneys, were Joe Lanza, David Taylor, and Richard Michael. Mr. Michael presented OMDA’s attorneys with a motion by which he is entering an appearance representing himself, individually, in the Harris County lawsuit.
“I am very pleased with these new developments,” stated Adam Barnett, Chairman. “Mr. Varnadore’s testimony is a clear indication that the highly disputed assets, including both working and non-working wells, do indeed belong to the company and its shareholders.” Mr. Barnett went on to say, “We have always remained confident that the law and truth were on our side, and that any resolution would favor OMDA OIL & Gas, Inc. At the present moment, the legal team is hard at work preparing for additional upcoming depositions, including Joseph Lanza’s, and for the trial.”
About OMDA Oil and Gas, Inc.
OMDA Oil and Gas, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, OMDA Oil & Gas Management, Inc. and Texas OMDA Drilling & Operating, Inc. and OMDA Oil & Gas, Inc. (Texas), are in the business of oil and gas production and lease acquisition. Currently the Company owns average participation interests approaching 47%, in 355 producing and non-producing oil and gas wells in Louisiana and Texas. Current acreage interests include a 15% working interest in 800 acres in Shelby County, TX and a Carried back-in working interest of at least 7.5% up to 37.5% in a 12 well work over play in the Concorde Dome Field in Andersen County, TX.
This release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, statements relating to the future anticipated direction of the Oil and Gas Industry, plans for expansion, various business development activities, planned capital expenditures, future funding resources, anticipated sales growth and potential contracts. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.
Contact: OMDA Oil and Gas, Inc. Investor Relations 800-621-0113 IR@omogoil.comwww.omogoil.com
SOURCE: OMDA Oil and Gas, Inc.