stop prop 24

Chevron reveals Ecuador bribery scam

by BGR on August 31, 2009

Chevron Corporation, with headquarters in San Ramon, CA (NYSE:CVX), today provided authorities in Ecuador and the U.S. with video recordings that reveal a $3 million bribery scheme that implicates the judge presiding over an environmental lawsuit currently pending against the company, and individuals who identify themselves as representatives of the Ecuadorian government and its ruling party.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=var67Gg9rKs

Leave a Comment

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Rousing Republicans September 7, 2009 at 8:27 am

Putting aside the bribery aspect as a distraction from the original dispute. If we boil it down to: Texaco takes actions in a neighborhood and does damage to it. There are costs to fix that or ‘make the victims whole.’ What are those costs and the damages is what the case if all about originally. That there could be a 27 Billion Dollar damage depends on the extent of the damage and to whom and how you valuate the lives affected (ended early or whatever).

What I find interesting is that in looking at a few environmental cases in say Montana there was a great tendency for companies to do damage and then for the company to be disassembled (bankrupt or terminated) so that there could never be a recovery by the victim/community against the company, and the concept of some sort of insurance was not applied. That Chevron has taken on the liability as well as the assets of the Texaco arrangement is rather interesting and may support a certain concept of moderation so as to assure that there is some adjustment here.

There is plenty of local connections to the concept of the original story’s background since we have development coming on areas where there is environmental damage existing or possible. One of the scary things is that when I talked to a few people about development at the Concord Naval Weapon Stations and the risk that developers would not complete clean up etc., it was noted that there are insurance companies that insure the clean up and prominent amongst them is AIG which the previous administration wound up taking a major share in. So it circles back to our costs,

2 Renegade Republican September 6, 2009 at 8:01 am

True nobody likes them. But it is a fact of life if you do business in the undeveloped world.

3 BGR September 5, 2009 at 9:30 am

People Do not like $27B shakedowns, too.

4 Freak of the Far Right September 5, 2009 at 9:20 am

I am shocked!!! Shocked Chevron discovers bribery in the third world. The real truth is Chevron pays bribes all the time. In Nigeria they pay bribes to officals as a regular part of doing business. It is expected.

As they say….

People Do!!

5 admin September 4, 2009 at 10:45 am

Ecuador Judge Recuses Himself From Lawsuit Vs Chevron

QUITO (Dow Jones)–The Ecuadorean judge purportedly caught on videotape discussing a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Chevron Corp. (CVX) has recused himself from the on-going case, Judge Juan Nunez said Friday.

Chevron released recordings Monday that it claims shows Nunez, who oversees the Lago Agrio court where the trial is being held, affirming that he would hold the oil company culpable for environmental damages. It said the videos prove the judge should be disqualified from the case.

Nunez has contended that the video footage was manipulated. Chevron has said the videos are authentic and haven’t been doctored.

“I have communicated with both sides in this case that I recuse myself from continuing with this case,” Nunez told Dow Jones Newswires. “However, I will continue with my work as a judge, and as president of the Lago Agrio Court, because I have not committed any illegality or irregularity.”

Nunez declined to explain the reason for his recusal. He did say that he had notified both Chevron and the plaintiffs, a group residing in the Amazon region that accuses Chevron of being responsible environmental contamination that took place decades ago, of his recusal.

The group claims that Chevron should pay for pollution caused by the oil operations of Texaco, which the energy giant acquired in 2001, while Chevron says Ecuador released it from liabilities after a cleanup by the company.

6 James Gessling September 2, 2009 at 8:07 am

That LA Times article is actually pretty level headed. One point it makes is that this case is no longer about facts, it’s about getting back at the Americans for slights both real and imagined. Stick it to the man if you will. I feel sorry for the locals whose wrongs will never be addressed since they are now background to the needs of these advocacy groups who are pushing their agendas.

7 BGR September 1, 2009 at 9:50 am

In following this topic on this and other sites, it has become clear to me that “Anna” usually turns out to be Karen Hinton, PR representative for the Amazon Defense Coalition.

Of course she will decry veracity of the clip as bogus with misdirection and huff. Read the transcript. If it was fake the media including NY Times, WSJ and most other major media that has picked up this major story would have called Chevron on it already.

Looks like Anna blows more smoke than Chevron!

8 Edi Birsan September 1, 2009 at 1:22 am

Anna, thank you for your background reference. The idea that this whole thing was a set up is a fascinating issue and I look forward to the rest of the story for this to be fleshed out.

9 Anna August 31, 2009 at 7:50 pm

This video raises more questions about Chevron than the judge. How is it that a Chevron contractor — who worked for the lawyers defending Chevron in the contamination lawsuit in Ecuador — decides to video tape meetings without Chevron’s knowledge, as the oil company claims? It’s not believable. Both the Chevron contractor, who is Ecuadorian, and the American contractor are seen offering bribes. Nowhere does the judge entertain the bribe much less accept it. This is a phony setup, orchestrated by Chevron. The release of this video is in line with the dirty tricks Chevron has played before in the lawsuit. To read an accurate portrayal of how Chevron and its predecessor Texaco have operated in Ecuador, read this editorial in the Los Angeles Times from this past Saturday: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-chevron29-2009aug29,0,6967677.story

10 Edi Birsan August 31, 2009 at 3:37 pm

The corruption stinks on a lot of levels and is also reported on elsewhere
http://theamazonpost.com/
Amongst the things that it tosses into the whirlpool of its own filth is the very validity of the original dispute between Chevron and the plaintiffs. The details of which we do not know, but now the case is tainted. I am not a big conspiracy type to jump on this as a set up, but the whole destructive nature of corruption is that the courts become invalidated as a means of resolving reasonable disputes. The alternatives are ugly.