Midland Energy Tech Company Seeks Millions from Late Employee’s Estate

MIDLAND, Texas – Oilfield well-completion company Peak Completion Technologies Inc. has sued the estate of its late co-founder Ray Hofman, arguing he siphoned millions from the company for extravagant personal spending before he died in a plane crash.

Midland, Texas-based Peak sued the estate of Mr. Hofman as well as his widow, Janna Fulfer Hofman, and two other businesses and businessmen who the company says were responsible for helping the Hofmans misapply the funds.

The lawsuit filed in February in Midland County says company officials learned of the alleged thefts after Mr. Hofman’s death in a February 2014 plane crash. Peak’s lawsuit says Mr. Hofman and his wife, who served as a company lawyer, committed fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, gross negligence and conspiracy. Vendor SP Engineering Co. Inc. and accounting firm Dutton, Harris & Co. Ltd. also are accused of wrongdoing in the lawsuit.

Peak’s legal filing details lavish items that Mr. Hofman allegedly purchased with company funds, including full-time personal housekeepers; a multimillion-dollar car collection that included Ferraris, Bentleys and Porsches; several private airplanes; a backyard pirate ship that cost nearly $250,000; and additional expensive trips and gifts.

News stories about the case have been featured by the Odessa American newspaper, “Peak sues late founder’s estate,” and KWES-NBC 9 in Midland/Odessa, “Late Co-Founder of Peak Completions Sued for His Estate.”

“We came across one set of improprieties after another,” attorney John Zavitsanos, counsel for Peak and a name partner in AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, told KWES. “And as we dug into it, we found fraudulent invoices. We found money skimmed off the top. Expensive expenditures using company money for personal use. It was really shocking.”

“(Mr. Hofman) was able to go to the Oscars. He had all types of extravagant expenditures and, in fact, his slogan was he wanted to ‘live like a rock star,’” Mr. Zavitsanos said.

The lawsuit is Peak Completions Technologies Inc. v. Janna Fulfer Hoffman, et al., No. CV-51061, in Midland County’s 142^nd District Court.

AZA, or Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, intellectual property, and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized in Chambers USA 2014 among the best in Texas commercial law; U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in America as one of the country’s best commercial litigation firms in 2014; and Law360 as one of only 13 Texas Powerhouse law firms. National corporate counsel named AZA one of the country’s best in client service among law firms serving the Fortune 1000. Read more at https://azalaw.com.