Chevron: New Evidence of Fraud Found in Text of Ecuador Judgment

Company submits new evidence of misconduct by plaintiffs′ lawyers and
Ecuadorian court in U.S. suit seeking to block enforcement and
recognition of fraudulent judgment
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)has filed an amended complaint in
its lawsuit in federal court in New York seeking to block enforcement
and recognition of a judgment entered against the company in Lago Agrio,
Ecuador. The amended complaint cites newly discovered evidence that the
Lago Agrio plaintiffs′ lawyers and consultants, at a minimum, provided
clandestine assistance to the Ecuadorian court in drafting the judgment
against Chevron.
Through its U.S. discovery efforts, Chevron has obtained previously
private files belonging to the Lago Agrio plaintiffs′ lawyers and their
co-conspirators. These files contain numerous and unique errors, large
and small, and the same errors and irregularities now appear in the
Ecuadorian court′s judgment despite never having been entered into the
trial record.
'There is no apparent explanation as to how the judgment would have
incorporated these errors and irregularities without cooperation between
the Ecuadorian court and the plaintiffs′ representatives,? stated R.
Hewitt Pate, Chevron vice president and general counsel. 'This is
another instance of the fraud and corruption that have permeated the
Ecuadorian judicial proceedings.?
Examples of the overlap between the judgment and the plaintiffs′ private
files include:
The judgment repeatedly uses an irregular naming scheme for sampling
data that is unique to a convention used in the Lago Agrio plaintiffs′
lawyers′ non-public files.
The internal files erroneously replace 'micrograms? with 'milligrams?
for certain sample reports, and the judgment makes the same error for
the same samples.
The Lago Agrio plaintiffs′ lawyers′ private files present data in a
manner that can make it appear that certain test results showed the
presence of mercury, even though the actual laboratory reports
indicate that no mercury was detected. The judgment incorrectly
reports the presence of mercury in these same samples.
The judgment repeats errors found in other internal documents prepared
by the Lago Agrio plaintiffs′ lawyers and their co-conspirators,
including citations to the wrong page in the Ecuadorian court record,
and other grammatical and substantive errors.
This latest evidence adds to a record that already has led to fraud
rulings against the plaintiffs′ representatives in discovery proceedings
before multiple U.S. federal courts over the past year. The filing of
the amended complaint also follows recent notable federal court
decisions in New York and Washington, D.C.:
On March 7, 2011, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of
New York entered a preliminary injunction barring attempts to enforce
the Ecuadorian judgment outside of Ecuador.
On April 15, 2011, Judge Kaplan granted Chevron′s motion to bifurcate
its claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
Act (RICO) and other state and federal laws, and set an early trial
date on Chevron′s claim seeking a declaration that the Ecuadorian
judgment should not be recognized or enforced.
On April 18, 2011, Judge Kaplan rejected a request to stay the
preliminary injunction, finding that 'It is difficult to see any
substantial reason to allow the defendants and others bound by the
preliminary injunction to prepare to enforce a judgment that the Court
already has held they probably never will be permitted to enforce
outside Ecuador.?
On April 19, 2011, Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. of the District Court
in the District of Columbia dismissed a complaint previously filed
against Chevron by the law firm Patton Boggs LLP, one of the Lago
Agrio plaintiffs′ law firms named as a non-party co-conspirator in the
RICO action. In denying Patton Boggs leave to assert a tortious
interference claim against Chevron and its counsel at Gibson Dunn &
Crutcher LLP, Judge Kennedy wrote, 'Patton Boggs misunderstands the
law.?
More information on the Ecuador litigation and a copy of the amended
RICO complaint can be found at www.chevron.com/ecuador.
Chevron is one of the world′s leading integrated energy companies, with
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
petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy;
provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources
of the future, including biofuels. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif.
More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.
Chevron
Kent Robertson, +1-925-842-1695