Chevron awarded $28 million in default judgment

The Supreme Court of Gibraltar awarded Chevron $28 million in damages for a fraudulent Ecuadorian judgment.

Chevron was awarded $28 million in a default judgment by the Supreme Court of Gibraltar on Dec. 9. The judgment against Gibraltar-based Amazonia Recovery Ltd. was awarded when Amazonia failed to participate in the proceedings despite court orders to the contrary. The damages were based on legal fees and included a permanent injunction against Amazonia, preventing it from participating further in the scheme. The conspiracy claims against Amazonia's directors are still pending.

“This decision is yet another example of how the international scheme against Chevron continues to erode,” Chevron’s Vice President and General Counsel R. Hewitt Pate said. “We will continue to seek to hold the perpetrators of this racket accountable for their actions.”

Amazonia Recovery is owned and controlled by an American lawyer Steven Donziger and his associates. Chevron alleges that the company's purpose is to keep any proceeds from a $9.5 billion Ecuadorian judgment out of Ecuador, and allow Donziger and his team to determine where the monies would be distributed.

In addition to Gibraltar's Supreme Court ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled against Amazonia in 2014, saying that the $9.5 billion judgment in Ecuador was due to fraud and racketeering activity. He also held Donziger liable for RICO violations. The ruling prohibited Donziger and his associates from enforcing the Equadorian judgment in the U.S.