Chevron wins round against funder of environmental suit in Ecuador
Handing Chevron its second important court victory this month, a Gibraltar judge has ruled that the oil giant may go forward with a tort suit against the key current funder of a controversial environmental suit in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, which generated an $18 billion judgment against Chevron in February 2011. (Ecuador's highest court reduced the award to $9.5 billion last year.)
A Manhattan federal judge found two weeks ago, in a civil racketeering suit brought by Chevron (CVX) against the lead lawyer behind the Lago Agrio litigation, that that judgment had been obtained by bribery, fraud, witness tampering, and other crimes.
In the Gibraltar suit Chevron claims that the funder, American online poker magnate James Russell DeLeon, knew or "turned a blind eye" to the fact that the plaintiffs team, which was led by his old friend and Harvard Law School classmate Steven Donziger, was employing fraudulent and other criminal means to win the judgment.
DeLeon, who has denied wrongdoing, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Karen Hinton, a spokesperson for Donziger said, "Chevron's case against Mr. DeLeon is yet another attempt by Chevron to retaliate against anybody who tries to help the communities holding Chevron accountable for its environmental crimes and wrongdoing, as found by three layers of courts in Ecuador."
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2014/03/17/chevron-wins-round-against-funder-of-environmental-suit-in-ecuador
