United States Supreme Court Denies Petition for Review by Lawyer Behind Fraudulent Chevron Ecuador Lawsuit
June 19 2017 - 1:03PM
Business Wire
The United States Supreme Court has denied a certiorari petition
seeking review of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit affirming extensive district court findings that a
$9.5 billion Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron Corporation was
the product of fraud and racketeering activity, and unenforceable
in the United States.
In 2014, Steven Donziger, an American lawyer behind a fraudulent
lawsuit against Chevron Corporation in Ecuador, was found by the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to have
violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
Act (RICO), committing extortion, money laundering, wire fraud,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, witness tampering and
obstruction of justice in obtaining the Ecuadorian judgment and in
trying to cover up the criminal conduct by him and his associates.
The court detailed its findings of fact in a nearly 500-page
decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
unanimously affirmed the lower court’s decision in August 2016.
“The facts of the Ecuadorian judicial extortion scheme and the
illegality of the plaintiffs’ lawyer misconduct have been finally
and conclusively affirmed by the legal system of the United
States,” said R. Hewitt Pate, Chevron vice president and general
counsel. “Today’s decision is an important step toward bringing
this illegal scheme to a final conclusion.”
Chevron has never operated in Ecuador. Texaco Petroleum
(TexPet), which became a subsidiary of Chevron in 2001, was a
minority partner in an oil-production consortium in Ecuador along
with the state-owned oil company, Petroecuador, from 1964 to 1992.
After TexPet turned its remaining share of the oil operations over
to Petroecuador in 1992, pursuant to an agreement with Ecuador,
TexPet agreed to conduct a remediation of selected production sites
while Petroecuador remained responsible to perform any remaining
cleanup. The government of Ecuador oversaw and certified the
successful completion of TexPet’s remediation and fully released
TexPet from further environmental liability. Petroecuador, however,
failed to conduct the cleanup it promised and has continued to
operate and expand oil operations in the former concession over the
past 20 years.
Since the extent of the fraud was revealed, more than a dozen
former insiders and allies have abandoned Donziger and his scheme,
including his former co-counsel, environmental
consultants, funders, investors, employees
and Ecuadorian collaborators.
Donziger’s attempts to enforce the fraudulent judgment in other
jurisdictions have also been met with resistance. In January 2017,
a Canadian court rejected an attempt to enforce the Ecuadorian
judgment against Chevron’s subsidiary, Chevron Canada Limited. The
court found that Chevron Canada Limited is a separate entity from
Chevron Corporation, not a party to the Ecuadorian lawsuit and not
a debtor to the judgment.
Public prosecutors in Argentina and Brazil issued opinions in
April 2016 and May 2015, respectively, to their courts recommending
against the recognition of the Ecuadorian judgment. Brazil’s Deputy
Prosecutor General stated it was “issued in an irregular manner,
especially under deplorable acts of corruption.”
In December 2015, the Supreme Court of Gibraltar issued
a judgment against Amazonia Recovery Ltd., a
Gibraltar-based company set up by Donziger and his associates to
receive and distribute funds resulting from the fraudulent
Ecuadorian judgment. The court awarded Chevron $28 million in
damages and issued a permanent injunction against Amazonia,
preventing the company from assisting or supporting the case
against Chevron in any way.
Chevron Corporation is one of the world’s leading integrated
energy companies. Through its subsidiaries that conduct business
worldwide, the company is involved in virtually every facet of the
energy industry. Chevron explores for, produces and transports
crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes
transportation fuels and lubricants; manufactures and sells
petrochemicals and additives; generates power; and develops and
deploys technologies that enhance business value in every aspect of
the company’s operations. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif.
More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170619006014/en/
Chevron CorporationMorgan Crinklaw, +1-925-842-4204
Chevron (NYSE:CVX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Chevron (NYSE:CVX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024