Lawsuit Targets Chevron “Dirty Tricks” Operative Over Ecuador Video Corruption Scandal

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Business Wire

September 14, 2010 02:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Amazon Defense Coalition: Lawsuit Targets Chevron “Dirty Tricks” Operative Over Ecuador Video Corruption Scandal
Chevron’s Diego Borja Faces Deposition in U.S. Over Activities In Ecuador


SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Chevron employee Diego Borja, the oil giant’s self-proclaimed “dirty tricks” operative in Ecuador, has been targeted with a subpoena and deposition demand in California where he now lives on Chevron’s payroll within miles of its global headquarters, the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal reported today.

Borja, who has worked for Chevron in Ecuador from at least 2004 until the video scandal erupted in 2009, has been taped in a phone conversation saying he has incriminating evidence that would cause Chevron to lose the Ecuador environmental litigation, according to papers filed September 10th in federal court in San Francisco. Chevron paid for Borja to relocate to the United States, where he remains on the company payroll while living in a luxury house abutting a golf course in a gated community.

Borja has failed to turn over the incriminating evidence, but representatives of the plaintiffs have long charged the oil giant with engaging in corrupt practices to undermine the trial.

“The subpoena is important because Borja has bragged about being at the epicenter of Chevron’s fraudulent activities in Ecuador,” said Karen Hinton, spokesperson for the Amazon Defense Coalition.


Read more: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100914006998/en

[seafan]

1. Chevron's day in court is coming.

Thanks for posting about this, Judi Lynn.


September 14, 2010

.....

Borja, who has worked for Chevron in Ecuador from at least 2004 until the video scandal erupted in 2009, has been taped in a phone conversation saying he has incriminating evidence that would cause Chevron to lose the Ecuador environmental litigation, according to papers filed September 10th in federal court in San Francisco.

.....

The court documents supporting Borja’s subpoena make it plan that:

* Chevron claimed in a press release that Borja was a “Good Samaritan,” when in fact he was working under the direction of Chevron’s legal team since at least 2004, and he himself said he was responsible for “dirty tricks” during the trial;
* Borja formed four dummy companies for Chevron to make the work he did for Chevron appear independent;
* Borja’s wife also worked for Chevron, and both he and his wife signed documents as representatives of Severn Trent Labs, a supposedly independent laboratory used to test soil and water samples from the litigation;
* Borja and his Chevron “boss” attempted to infiltrate a lab used by the plaintiffs using false names.

Among Borja’s quotes from the tapes cited in the legal papers is the following passage:

“… I have correspondence (with Chevron officials) that talks about things you can’t even imagine, dude… they’re things that can make the Amazons win this just like this (snapping fingers)… I mean, what I have is conclusive evidence, photos of how they managed things internally.”

The tapes were made by Santiago Escobar, a childhood friend of Borja’s who lives in Canada. They have been turned over to authorities in Ecuador and the United States.

Escobar had told journalists that Borja indicated to him on several occasions that he has carried out a series of clandestine “dirty tricks” operations on behalf of Chevron over a series of years. In June 2009, Escobar said Borja told him he arranged “the biggest business deal of his life” that would “take down the lawsuit” and that he had received a “ton of money” from Chevron for his work.

When will the hammer of justice come down on these global rapists?, February, 2010

[Judi Lynn]

2. New Damages Assessments Due Thursday in Ecuador, but Chevron Refusing to Participate

September 15, 2010 02:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Amazon Defense Coalition: New Damages Assessments Due Thursday in Ecuador, but Chevron Refusing to Participate
Judge Has More than 100 Expert Reports as Oil Giant Continues to Obstruct Judicial Process

QUITO, Ecuador--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New damages assessments from both Chevron and the Amazonian communities are due in Ecuador’s court Thursday, but Chevron has indicated it likely will refuse to participate despite complaining previously it never had the opportunity to submit its own damages report.

For more than two years, Chevron has protested a previous $27 billion report submitted by court-appointed expert Richard Cabrera.

“We predict that Chevron’s bad faith will be on full display yet again,” said Pablo Fajardo, the lead lawyer for the Amazonian communities. “Chevron complained that it did not have an opportunity to produce its own damages assessment. But when given the opportunity, company lawyers accuse the judge of bias against Chevron and launch attacks on the justice system.”

Fajardo said the Amazonian communities will submit their own damages assessment to the court on Thursday and that it was prepared by a team of scientific and medical experts. Chevron, on the other hand, recently filed a motion in Ecuador to remove the judge and cited the order asking for the new damages assessments as a basis.

More:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100915006860/en