A U.S. lawyer used fraud to win a historic $18 billion judgment against Chevron Corp (CVX.N) for polluting the Ecuadorean jungle, witnesses said at a trial in New York on Wednesday.
The witnesses were testifying in federal court on behalf of Chevron, which is seeking to prevent lawyer Steven Donziger from profiting from the award, which he won for a group of Ecuadorean villagers in 2011.
Christopher Bogart, the head of a firm that helped finance Donziger’s case in Ecuador, said he ended his investment in the case after mounting concerns of misconduct by Donziger.
“There was quite a lot of disturbing information coming out,” said Bogart, who is the chief executive of litigation financing firm Burford Capital.
