The Nation : Arrest of Ex-Ashland Oil Chairman Told

A former chairman of Ashland Oil was arrested in July for alleged conspiracy to steal confidential company documents and sell them to Iran for use in a lawsuit against the oil giant, the company said. In a statement from corporate headquarters in Ashland, Ky., officials confirmed a New York Times report that Orin Atkins had been arrested in New York and charged with interstate transportation of stolen property. The company also said former Ashland Vice President Charles Dugan, Florida attorney Charles Barnett, and former Ashland consultant Roy M. Furmark were arrested in the case. The four men allegedly conspired to obtain secret internal documents and sell them to the National Iranian Oil Co., which had sued Ashland for $500 million for failure to pay $283 million, plus interest, for seven shipments of crude oil in 1979.