A tortuous battle Ecuadorian Indians are waging to collect US$9.5 billion awarded them in a 2011 Amazon-pollution judgment against Chevron became even more complicated this month following an adverse U.S. court decision and a split in the plaintiffs’ camp. A federal appeals panel in Manhattan this month upheld a U.S. lower court’s holding that the landmark judgment against Chevron, handed down by an Ecuadorian court in the Amazon province of Sucumbíos, was tainted by corruption that included coercion, fraud and bribery. The original corruption decision was issued in 2014 by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case Chevron brought against Steven Donziger of New York, an attorney for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs. “It is very... [Log in to read more]
