Ecuadorian Attorney Who Helped Lead Anti-Chevron Litigation Suspended by Amazon Defense Front

Ecuadorian attorney Pablo Fajardo received a 2008 CNN Hero award for his “side-by-side” work with infamous plaintiffs’ attorney Steven Donziger to obtain a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron, which a U.S. judge later ruled was obtained “through fraud and bribery,” reports Fortune’s Roger Parloff.

That award (which has not yet been paid) was supposed to be administered by the Amazon Defense Front (ADF), of which Parloff writes Donziger and Fajardo are the “effective leaders.” As such, the ADF had an Ecuadorian court place an “embargo” (thus giving the ADF a lien on) an unrelated $112 billion arbitration award between Ecuador and Chevron.

Last week, after Ecuador surprised many by paying Chevron that arbitration award, the ADF suspended Fajardo, claiming it was him who had the embargo lifted, allowing Chevron, not the ADF, to be paid.