Further Details Of The Contempt Motion Against Steven Donziger

The allegations, with supporting evidence at hand, are that Donziger continues to attempt to sell interests in the fraudulent judgment against Chevron Corporation in Ecuador for his personal profit, in flagrant violation of District Court orders against him.

Forbes - Michael I. Krauss 29/10/2018

Photo: Forbes

On October 14 this column summarized a contempt of court motion filed by Chevron Corp. against Steven Donziger, the mastermind of an effort to sue Chevron that has been found to be massively fraudulent in the United States and abroad. The October 14 column noted that much of Chevron's contempt motion was redacted, pending review by United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan. The non-redacted portions themselves were highly revealing, however. [Steven Donziger was given an opportunity to comment on a draft of this column, but did not respond.]

Now Judge Kaplan has ordered the previously redacted parts of the motion to be publicly disclosed. The new allegations are shocking in the extreme, and I have documentary corroboration for them that I am happy to send to anyone who is interested. The allegations, with supporting evidence at hand, are that Donziger continues to attempt to sell interests in the fraudulent judgment against Chevron Corporation in Ecuador for his personal profit, in flagrant violation of District Court orders against him. Donziger has apparently raised at least $2.4 million in new money (for a total of $40 million), and at least $1.5 million of this new money has found its way to his and his wife’s bank accounts. The unredacted allegations demonstrate that virtually all of Donziger’s supporters have received cash payments, a property interest in the fraudulent judgment, or both.

Chevron's motion is for civil, not criminal, contempt. But it's very hard to imagine that the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York will be uninterested.

Here are the details. Note that every allegation is accompanied by documentary evidence, copies of which I have obtained.

Donziger’s pattern of personally profiting from the fraudulent Ecuadorian judgment apparently continues. Donziger raised at least $2.4 million from selling interests in the Ecuadorian judgment after the issuance of Judge Kaplan's RICO Judgment in March 2014. Of this sum, at least $1.5 million ended up in Donziger’s personal accounts. Donziger transferred nearly $300,000 to his wife and paid over $54,000 in credit card charges she incurred. Donziger also apparently used the proceeds of his sales to pay $14,040 in gym membership expenses, $5,225 for a bar tab, and $2,578 to for wine.
Donziger sought to conceal these arrangements by routing transfers through Canadian lawyers. Donziger routed funds through Canadian counsel for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs (Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP) in an arrangement that appears to have been designed to launder the funds and do an end-run around Judge Kaplan's requirement that Donziger transfer any funds traceable to the Ecuadorian judgment to Chevron. When closing out an account containing investor funds, Donziger routed all $342,045.16 that remained in the account through the account of his associate, Aaron Marr Page, before transferring it to his own account (he apparently paid Page $50,000 shortly afterward).
Donziger apparently attempted to destroy evidence of his activities. Donziger asked the recipients of an email relating to efforts to approach a potential investor to “delete all emails related to this and again, keep the info confidential.”