Over the 4th of July Weekend, USA Network had a three-day James Bond Movie Marathon, where such classics as Dr. No, and Live And Let Die were presented, along with the modern classic Casino Royale.
But Goldfinger, perhaps the most iconic of all James Bond movies, reminded me of Steve Donziger, the man who sparked the years-long lawsuit against Chevron. A legal blast of dubious makeup, to put it mildly.
I’ve followed this story for something like five years, now, so I know it all too well. Thus, the recent stream of news that the Ecuador lawsuit was being financed by private investors collecting money from other investment companies that may do business with you, but not me. (After you read this, you’re going to want to give your investment portfolio the once-over, so pay attention.)
According to Fortune Magazine’s blog, A 15-month old, publicly-traded company named Burford Capital invested $4 million in the Ecuador lawsuit against Chevron. Burford Capital consists of the investment firms Fidelity International, Invesco Perpetual, Baillie Gifford, and Scottish Widows.
If the Chevron lawsuit turns for Ecuador Burford Capital gets at least 1.5 percent of the court award. If Burford Capital’s able to give $11 million more to the lawsuit effort, then it’s share increases to 5.5 percent. Basically, it means you may already be investing in a fraudulent lawsuit.
That’s what reminded me of Goldfinger and Donziger.
In Goldfinger, Auric Goldfinger has a plan to rob and essentially eliminate the Gold reserve at Fort Knox. To do this, he gains investors in his deed at $1 million each. They, were under the impression they would gain “hundreds of millions of dollars.” Instead, Goldfinger, not wanting to pay back his investors, killed them. Goldfinger keeps their money.
Standing in the way of Goldfinger’s plot is James Bond, leading to this, one of the most famous scenes in movie history:
Given how Donziger has operated in Ecuador, with talks about threatening judges, an “independent” court expert, who’s anything but, and talks about paying Ecuadorians to help in threatening judges, there must be someone Donziger wants on the table with an active laser.
After all, while Burford Capital’s investing millions, there’s a high chance it will lose. Who keeps the money? Looks like Donziger and his folks.
Meanwhile, you’re kind of like those investors in Goldfinger – you don’t exist.
Check your investment portfolio, and stay tuned.
Bill Carroll