Fired Koch Exec Fights to Advance Kidnapping Suit
Fired Koch Exec Fights to Advance Kidnapping Suit
(CN) - Billionaire industrialist William Koch is trying "to mislead" the court into dismissing kidnapping claims, the fired executive who is suing him said Thursday.
Kirby Martensen sued Koch initially in October 2012 in the Northern District of California, but Koch has cried improper venue since the alleged kidnapping occurred in Colorado and since he maintains a residence in Florida.
Martensen said Koch lured him and five other executives of the Koch-owned Oxbow Group to his Aspen Ranch on the pretense of a company getaway and then fired them. Before Koch shipped them back to California, however, each executive faced several hours of interrogation at Bear Ranch, guarded by a private security detail and local police, according to the complaint.
Though Martensen attributes his ordeal to having learned of a plot by Oxbow to evade $200 million a year in federal taxes, Koch says Martensen was fired for defrauding the company.
The original complaint was dismissed on March 1 and Martensen then amended it to establish proper venue.
After Koch again challenged venue on March 28, Martensen claimed in an opposition brief Thursday that it is evident he "felt" most of the harm from the alleged kidnapping in California.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/04/12/56646.htm
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