Argentine court upholds freeze on Chevron assets

Argentina case: Court upholds judgement on Ecuador

AP/Scanpix

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News Wires

 30 January 2013 21:02 GMT

An Argentine appeals court has upheld a freeze on up to $19 billion worth of assets held by US oil major Chevron in Argentina as part of an environmental lawsuit by Ecuadorean villagers, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers said on Wednesday according to a report.

An Ecuadorean court last year ordered Chevron to pay the enormous sum for contamination of watersheds over nearly 30 years that the plaintiffs say sickened indigenous tribes people and farmers in the Ecuadorean Amazon, Reuters reported.

Chevron has refused to make any payments and accuses Ecuadorean courts of fraud.

Because the company has few assets in the Andean nation, the plaintiffs are seeking enforcement of the ruling in other countries including Argentina, Brazil and Canada.

The two Chevron subsidiaries targeted by the freeze, Chevron Argentina and Ing. Norberto Priu, asked the court in November…

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