SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 2017--
Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ) unanimously rejected an attempt
to enforce a fraudulent Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron Corporation
on Wednesday, November 29, citing a lack of jurisdiction. The fraudulent
judgment has now been rejected in Argentina, Brazil and the United
States.
“Courts around the world continue to reject attempts to profit from this
fraudulent judgment,” said R. Hewitt Pate, Chevron’s vice president and
general counsel. “Today’s decision reinforces our belief that any
jurisdiction that observes the rule of law will find the Ecuadorian
judgment to be illegitimate and unenforceable.”
The STJ’s 10-0 vote follows a decision
by an Argentine court on Oct. 31 denying recognition of the Ecuadorian
judgment, also citing a lack of jurisdiction.
Prosecutors in both Brazil and Argentina had previously opined that the
Ecuadorian judgment was unenforceable because it was the product of
fraud and corruption. In 2015, Brazil’s deputy prosecutor general found
that the judgment “was issued in an irregular manner, especially under
deplorable acts of corruption that represent an offense against the
international public order and even to good morals.”
In 2014, a U.S. federal court found
the Ecuadorian judgment to be the product of fraud and racketeering
activity. The court also found that Steven Donziger, an American lawyer
behind the lawsuit, 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. 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. In June 2017, the
United States Supreme Court rejected Donziger’s petition seeking review
of the case.
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.
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 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.
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/20171130005865/en/
Source: Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation
Morgan Crinklaw, +1-925-842-4204
