NY Times, September 1, 2009
Chevron Offers Evidence of Bribery Scheme in Ecuador Lawsuit
By SIMON ROMERO and CLIFFORD KRAUSS
CARACAS, Venezuela — The oil giant Chevron said Monday that it had
obtained video recordings of meetings in Ecuador this year that appear
to reveal a bribery scheme connected to a $27 billion lawsuit the
company faces over environmental damage at oil fields it operated in
remote areas of the Amazon forest in Ecuador.
The videos, together with audio recordings obtained by businessmen using
watches and pens implanted with bugging devices, appear to implicate
Ecuadoran officials and political operatives, including possibly Juan
Núñez, the judge overseeing the lawsuit, and Pierina Correa, the sister
of Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa.
The recordings indicate that an Ecuadoran political operative was
working to obtain $3 million in bribes related to environmental cleanup
contracts to be awarded in the event of a ruling against Chevron.
It was not clear from the recordings and transcripts provided by
Chevron, however, whether any bribes discussed in the recordings were
actually paid or whether Judge Núñez was even aware of plans to try to
bribe him. The tapes also did not demonstrate whether the president’s
sister was aware of the scheme or had participated in it.
But in a statement that Chevron says illustrates that the judge’s
handling of the case is flawed, Judge Núñez said on one of the video
recordings that he planned to rule against Chevron by January and that
damages could exceed $27 billion.
Judge Núñez, who presides over the case from a cramped office in the
town of Lago Agrio in Ecuador, could not be reached for comment on Monday.
The recordings, which Chevron placed on its Web site, are the latest
twist in a 16-year legal battle over oil contamination of jungle areas
in northern Ecuador. Mr. Correa, a left-wing economist who rose from
obscurity to become Ecuador’s strongest president in recent memory, has
repeatedly sided with the plaintiffs in the case, prompting a fierce
lobbying effort by Chevron in Washington to strip Ecuador of American
trade preferences.
That effort failed in June when the Obama administration, seizing a
chance to improve ties with Mr. Correa, allowed the preferences to
continue. But the release of the recordings will focus more scrutiny on
Mr. Correa, who has come under pressure over his clashes with the media
and accusations of corruption involving another family member, his
brother Fabricio Correa, a prominent businessman.
Alexis Mera, a legal adviser to the president, dismissed the recordings
as “approaching the level of defamatory libel.” He said Chevron was
benefiting from the crime of intercepting conversations without
authorization, reflecting “a terrible legal strategy.”
Steven Donziger, a lawyer representing the group of Ecuadorans who are
suing Chevron, contending that they had been harmed by the oil
contamination, said: “I suspect this is a Chevron sting operation; there
needs to be an investigation into Chevron’s role in this as much as the
judge’s. I find it awfully odd that these individuals would secretly
film meetings using James Bond devices like a spy watch and a spy pen.
“At the end of the day this will not affect the underlying case,” Mr.
Donziger said, “other than it might cause a short delay if the judge
needs to be replaced.”
Chevron said it had obtained the recordings from Diego Borja, an
Ecuadoran who once worked as a logistics contractor for the company. The
company said Mr. Borja had been working with an American businessman,
Wayne Hansen, to secure water treatment contracts. Chevron said that
neither man had been paid for the recordings, but that the company paid
for Mr. Borja and his family to leave Ecuador because of concern about
his safety.
“I’d like to think he brought them to us out of respect for our company
and concern for what seemed to be transpiring here,” Charles James, an
executive vice president of Chevron, said of the recordings in a
telephone interview. “We think this information absolutely disqualifies
the judge and nullifies anything that he has ever done in this case.”
In one of the recordings made in June, the political operative, Patricio
García, who identified himself as an official in Mr. Correa’s political
party, referred to $3 million in bribes to be split equally among the
judge, the presidency and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Mr. Correa’s
party, Mr. García said, would receive the $1 million payment on behalf
of the plaintiffs.
In the same meeting, Mr. García told Mr. Borja how to approach Ms.
Correa, the president’s sister, about the bribe. “Tell Pierina clearly,
‘Madam Pierina, what we came to do beyond anything else is to
participate, participate in the remediation. That’s why I want to make
you part of this,’ “ he said.
The recordings do not indicate whether Ms. Correa was aware of the
efforts to include her in a bribery scheme. Nor is there confirmation
that Mr. García was in fact in contact with her.
Secret recordings of closed-door meetings have become a common feature
of Ecuadoran politics. Mr. Correa, furious over the recent airing of a
recording of a private conversation in his office with a cabinet
minister and a member of congress, said he would request the shutdown of
the television network that broadcast the recording.
“This is an attack on national security,” he said.
But while Mr. Correa takes such recordings seriously, it is not clear if
the people whose conversations about contract bribes were recorded by
Mr. Borja grasped the complexity of the Chevron lawsuit. For instance,
appeals by Chevron could delay for years the payment of damages that
could be used for water cleanup contracts.
Still, the recordings offered a glimpse into the murky world of
Ecuadoran politics and business. In another reference to Ms. Correa’s
ability to ensure that the contracts would be forthcoming, Mr. García
said, “Pierina knows absolutely everything.”
He told Mr. Borja of a conversation he said he had with Ms. Correa,
according to a transcript. “So she says: ‘Patricio, I just have to tell
Rafael this one little thing, nothing else. Nothing else,’ “ he said.
Chevron said the assertion should be investigated.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: September 1, 2009
A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to the name of
Rafael Correa's brother as Patricio Correa. Mr. Correa's brother is
named Fabricio.
Simon Romero reported from Caracas, and Clifford Krauss from Houston.
Maggy Ayala Samaniego contributed reporting from Quito, Ecuador.
---
http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/31082009/34/biz-f-business-wire-statement-amazon-defense-coalition-allegations-chevron-27b-ecuador.html
Statement of Amazon Defense Coalition Over Allegations by Chevron in
$27B Ecuador Environmental Case
Mon Aug 31, 3:25 PM
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Statement from Karen Hinton, spokeswoman
from Amazon Defense Coalition:
“The legal and scientific case against Chevron in Ecuador stands on the
merits. The court-ordered damages assessment, ordered by a previous
judge, found that 100% of Chevron’s former sites are contaminated with
life-threatening toxins. On that basis, we believe Chevron is now liable
for significant damages.
“We understand the seriousness of Chevron’s allegations. An appropriate
investigation will determine whether the allegations are true or if they
are the product of a dirty tricks campaign designed and financed by the
company. It is clear from Chevron’s information that a former Chevron
contractor appears to have been complicit in executing a bribery scheme
involving an alleged official of a political party. It also seems clear
from a review of Chevron’s transcripts – whose authenticity has yet to
be verified – that the judge continually resisted the attempted bribery
scheme put to him by a former Chevron contractor.
“It is the experience of the plaintiffs that Chevron has a long history
of corrupt acts in Ecuador to evade accountability for its reckless
environmental practices. The video seems to fit squarely into Chevron’s
historic pattern of corruption in Ecuador. Ultimately, an investigation
will determine the facts and Chevron’s role in this episode.
“If an investigation shows there is a problem, there are judicial
mechanisms to address procedural problems in Ecuador that will preserve
the integrity of the trial process. We have full confidence in the
Ecuadorian judicial system, as does Chevron, given the case is taking
place in Ecuador at the company’s request.”
About the Amazon Defense Coalition
The Amazon Defense Coalition represents dozens of rainforest communities
and five indigenous groups that inhabit Ecuador’s Northern Amazon
region. The mission of the Coalition is to protect the environment and
secure social justice through grass roots organizing, political
advocacy, and litigation.
Amazon Defense Coalition
Karen Hinton, 703-798-3109
[email protected]
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