Elliott Investment Management LP has accused SRP Capital Advisors LLC and a principal of misappropriating "tens of millions" from Elliott and other investors in an alleged scheme that began to emerge after a books and records suit in Delaware's Court of Chancery earlier this year.

A subsequent complaint, filed on Sept. 25 but made fully public only late on Monday, sought the appointment of a receiver in connection with the alleged misappropriations of funds, including $27 million — an amount also undisclosed before Monday — from investment vehicles controlled by Ryan Turner and Stronghold Resource Partners.

Allegations include overcharging for expenses tied to oil tract investments in Texas by Turner-controlled private equity firm Stronghold Investment Management, as well as failure to liquidate the investments by Dec. 31, 2023, under a settlement reached in August 2022. The original deadline was later extended by a year.

"The brazenness of this misconduct cannot be overstated. Through Stronghold, Turner had systematically looted entities they were supposed to be managing for the benefit of the investors," the now unredacted complaint said.

"The inescapable conclusion is that, rather than selling its assets, distributing the proceeds and winding down" the fund at issue, "Stronghold has pillaged Fund II to line its own pockets and then tried to cover up its own wrongdoing by lying about the value of its unsold assets," it added.

Stronghold and Elliott did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

The nine-count complaint includes direct and derivative allegations of fiduciary duty breaches against Turner, the fund and general partners; aiding and abetting of breaches against Turner; and unjust enrichment against all those named, while also seeking the appointment of a receiver.

According to the complaint, the enterprise dates to 2017, when Elliott and Stronghold established SRP III to buy, hold and manage mineral interests in Texas' Permian Basin.

A year later, Elliott invested $79 million — forming a parallel vehicle, SRP II Sidecar — bringing its total investment to a combined $97 million, or 47%, of Fund II. Turner, meanwhile, allegedly controlled Fund II's operations in an enterprise focused on buying and developing mineral rights or leaseholds through portfolio investment companies.

The enterprise later expanded, but according to the complaint, "Stronghold belatedly provided financial statements" for some assets that "contained alarming irregularities." In one instance, "Stronghold admitted that, during 2021, it had taken $13 million from two accounts, 'leaving nothing more than an IOU,'" Elliott alleged.

According to the complaint, Elliott "finally forced Stronghold to make disclosures during earlier books and records litigation in Chancery Court." That effort revealed that Stronghold had created shell "service centers to funnel Stronghold's own overhead, research and development costs and unrelated litigation expenses to the shared funds."

The arrangement "represents a massive wealth transfer from Fund II's limited partners to pay Stronghold's own expenses through fraudulent expense allocation practices," the complaint said. The scheme also allegedly led to a "massive increase in expenses at precisely the time when Fund II should have been selling assets and ceasing operations."

Stronghold, the complaint said, "artificially inflated Fund II's asset valuations." While Stronghold claims that Fund II's remaining assets were worth $140 million as of June 30, 2025, Elliott has not been able to recreate this valuation using industry-standard valuation techniques, it added.

"This explosion of non-transaction expenses after the settlement agreement was signed is inexplicable absent fiduciary misconduct," the complaint said, noting outlays largely flowed through four "black box" expense categories.

Elliott Investment Management and limited partner Eller Associates Inc. et al. are represented by Raymond J. DiCamillo, Susan Hannigan Cohen and Danielle I. Bell of Richards Layton & Finger PA and Andrew J. Rossman, David S. Mader, Charles H. Sangree and Sarah Bittman of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.

SRP Opportunities II LP, SRPO-II Partners I LP and SRP Opportunities III LP are represented by Garrett B. Moritz and S. Reiko Rogozen of Ross Aronstam & Moritz LLP and Edward C. Barnidge, Adrienne E. Van Winkle, Sean M. Douglass and Matthew D. Heins of Williams & Connolly LLP.

The case is Eller Associates Inc. et al. v. SRP Opportunities II LP et al., case number 2025-1095, in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.