Former Ecuadorian Judge Admits Role in Orchestrating Fraudulent Judgment Against Chevron

In a declaration filed today in New York federal court, Alberto Guerra,
who presided over the case when it was first filed in 2003, reveals that
he was paid thousands of dollars by the plaintiffs′ lawyers and a
subsequent judge, Nicholas Zambrano, for illegally ghostwriting judicial
orders issued by Zambrano and steering the case in the plaintiffs′
favor. Guerra, who is no longer a judge, attests that the plaintiffs′
lawyers were permitted to draft the $18 billion judgment in their own
favor after they promised to pay Zambrano a $500,000 bribe out of the
judgment′s enforcement proceeds, and that Guerra then reviewed the
plaintiffs′ lawyers′ draft for Zambrano before the judge issued it as
his own.

'Another participant in the fraud has now come forward rather than wait
to be exposed by others,? said Hewitt Pate, Chevron vice president and
general counsel. 'Chevron urges additional whistleblowers in Ecuador,
the United States, and elsewhere to come forward. It is never too late
to tell the truth.?

Guerra′s declaration, which is corroborated by computer, bank, and
shipping records, as well as the plaintiffs′ lawyers′ own internal
e-mails, provides a direct account of corruption that has tainted the
trial for years. Guerra describes multiple meetings with the plaintiffs′
lawyers and representatives ? namely, New York-based Steven Donziger,
Pablo Fajardo, and Luis Yanza ? to discuss payoffs, kickbacks, and the
ghostwriting of court orders favorable to the plaintiffs. Guerra attests:

• 
  'I was Mr. Zambrano′s "ghostwriter′ and I wrote the great majority of
  the rulings issued in civil cases assigned to Mr. Zambrano, including
  the Chevron case.?
  
• 
  'Mr. Donziger thanked me for my work as ghostwriter in this case and
  for helping steer the case in favor of the Plaintiffs′[sic]. The
  payments from the Plaintiffs′ representatives were given to me by Mr.
  Fajardo in cash, or were deposited into my savings account at Banco
  Pichincha. I remember that while I was writing court rulings for Mr.
  Zambrano I would regularly meet with Mr. Fajardo, perhaps twice per
  month, to discuss my work.?
  
• 
  'Mr. Zambrano told me he was in direct contact with Mr. Fajardo and
  that the Plaintiffs′ representatives had agreed to pay him USD
  $500,000 from whatever money they were to collect from the judgment,
  in exchange for allowing them to write the judgment in the Plaintiffs′
  favor.?
  
• 
  'Approximately two weeks before the trial court in the Chevron case
  issued the judgment, Mr. Zambrano gave me a draft of the judgment so
  that I could revise it. It was through him that I found out that the
  attorneys for the Plaintiffs had written that judgment and had
  delivered it to him.?
  
• 
  'I worked on that document in Mr. Zambrano′s residence in Lago Agrio
  using Mr. Fajardo′s computer.?
  
• 
  'Based on what Mr. Zambrano told me, it is my understanding that the
  Plaintiffs′ attorneys made changes to the judgment up to the very last
  minute before it was published.?
  
• 
  'I knew at the time, and I know now, that the agreement in which I
  participated, and by which the Plaintiffs′ representatives drafted the
  judgment in the Chevron case which Judge Zambrano issued, with my
  help, was a violation of Ecuadorian law. According to Ecuadoran law,
  only a judge is authorized to write rulings and judgments. For these
  same reasons I knew at the time, as I know now, that the arrangement
  in which I participated, whereby I drafted court rulings for Mr.
  Zambrano steering the case in favor of the Plaintiffs, and was paid by
  the Plaintiffs′ representatives for that work, was a violation of
  Ecuadoran law. And I knew at that time, as I know now, that the
  agreement that Mr. Zambrano told me he had reached with the
  representatives′ attorneys, to let them draft the judgment in favor of
  the Plaintiffs and against Chevron, in exchange for him receiving USD
  $500,000 once they collected the money from the judgment, was a
  violation of Ecuadoran law.?
  

One year after issuing the judgment against Chevron, Zambrano was from the bench as part of an organized crime commission investigation
involving the inappropriate release of narcotics traffickers from prison.

Guerra′s account is corroborated by contemporaneous documentary
evidence. For example, his computer contains drafts of numerous orders Zambrano issued, including in the Lago Agrio case. And his
bank records ( and document payments made to him by a representative of the plaintiffs. records and Guerra′s further corroborate his testimony.

Sworn statements by several other witnesses also corroborate Guerra′s
account. Chevron′s Ecuadorian lawyers and others known to them now
attest to the fact that, at various times during Zambrano′s tenures on
the case, Guerra directly approached them to solicit bribes on
Zambrano′s behalf in order to fix the Lago Agrio judgment, and that
Chevron refused Guerra′s approaches. Moreover, contemporaneous
declarations ( and from two of Chevron′s Ecuadorian lawyers described the failed bribery
solicitations at the time they occurred. These several witnesses attest
in their sworn statements that Chevron flatly rejected Guerra′s repeated
bribe solicitations on behalf of Zambrano.

Guerra′s testimony and corroborating evidence confirm what the extensive
overlap between the plaintiffs′ lawyers′ internal files and the judgment
itself already supported ? that the plaintiffs′ lawyers corrupted the
Ecuadorian court and actually wrote the $18 billion judgment against
Chevron.

Contemporaneous e-mails between the plaintiffs′ lawyers and
representatives, produced through court-ordered discovery in the United
States, also corroborate Guerra′s declaration. When another judge had to
recuse himself from the case in the midst of a solicitation scandal and Zambrano was poised to resume presiding
over it, the plaintiffs′ lawyers 'Guerra? by name as a potential target to influence the case′s ultimate
ruling. The plaintiffs′ lawyers even assigned code names to Zambrano and
Guerra, referring to them as the 'puppeteer? and the 'puppet.? On
October 27, 2009, Fajardo sent Donziger and Yanza an stating, 'The puppeteer won′t move his puppet until the audience doesn′t
[sic] pay him something.? On November 27, 2009, Yanza sent Donziger an warning him about increased costs due to paying the 'puppeteer.?

This revelation is the latest in a recent of instances where individuals and groups formerly aligned with the
plaintiffs have either accused the plaintiffs′ lawyers of fraud or
provided first-hand accounts of corruption tainting the trial and
judgment. Earlier this month, it was that Burford Capital, one of the largest backers of the plaintiffs, the plaintiffs′ lawyers of fraud and other misconduct in connection with
their pursuit of their case. In December, a former environmental
consultant to the plaintiffs came forward with additional of fraud and the fabrication of evidence on the part of the
plaintiffs′ lawyers.

Because of the risks to Guerra and his family from coming forward,
Chevron has taken reasonable measures, based on third-party assessments,
to protect Guerra′s safety and security, and that of his family,
including relocating them from Ecuador and providing other assistance.
In exchange for collecting and turning over hard evidence corroborating
his account, including his personal computer, two cell phones, his day
calendars, and bank, phone and shipping records, Guerra received a total
of $38,000 from Chevron, but as Guerra affirms, he has 'not . . .
received any money or compensation in exchange for signing this sworn
declaration.?

Additional evidence produced by the plaintiffs′ American lawyers
provides corroborating proof that the Lago Agrio plaintiffs′
representatives participated in the the judgment. In at least eight separate instances, the judgment
tracks the plaintiffs′ lawyers′ own documents, in some cases
word-for-word, reciting content from the plaintiffs′ lawyers′ internal
materials that did not form part of the record, as well as copying
errors and idiosyncratic reference citations that only appeared in the
plaintiffs′ internal documents.

Chevron intends to provide all of this evidence to Ecuador′s Prosecutor
General and to request that his office investigate Zambrano and the
plaintiffs′ lawyers. The company has provided evidence of fraud, corruption, and attorney misconduct to
authorities in Ecuador in the past, but to date, the government there
has taken no apparent action to enforce its laws.

'Chevron once again calls on Ecuadorian authorities, and authorities
wherever these plaintiffs′ lawyers are trying to advance their fraud, to
investigate and bring an end to this scheme,? said Pate. 'Ecuador should
not tolerate American lawyers using Ecuador′s institutions and citizens
as puppets.?

In now coming forward, Guerra has also agreed to make himself available
to appear before other courts, tribunals, and investigators if requested
to do so.

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.
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