One of the world’s biggest oil companies is accusing state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli of trading official actions for campaign donations in connection with a massive international lawsuit, The Post has learned.
According to documents being filed this morning with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics, Chevron Corp. is alleging that DiNapoli has engaged in an “apparent quid pro quo” by accepting thousands in contributions in return for his efforts on behalf of plaintiffs in an environmental case in Ecudaor.
“DiNapoli has apparently misused his official position,” according to the complaint, obtained in advance by The Post. “Comptroller DiNapoli and his office have aided a fraud apparently in return for money, in the form of campaign contributions.”
In a statement today, DiNapoli said “This is a baseless attempt by big oil to intimidate me and it won’t work. The allegations are without merit.”
DiNapoli spokesman Eric Sumberg has consistently said there is no quid pro quo between DiNapoli’s actions and the donors. He also said the state Comptroller’s Office staked out its anti-Chevron position years before DiNapoli took over in February 2007 from scandal-scarred Alan Hevesi.
But since taking over as the state’s chief finance officer and head of New York’s $150 billion pension fund, DiNapoli has become one of the most vocal critics of Chevron, issuing news releases and writing op-eds against the company.
Earlier this year, he led an unsuccessful effort to force a restructuring of management at the petroleum giant, a firm in which New York’s pensioners are heavily invested.
And DiNapoli even went so far as to try to enlist the support of then-state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in his efforts against Chevron, according to the complaint. Cuomo didn’t bite.
In its filing, Chevron said DiNapoli’s positions mirror those of a group suing the company in a controversial international lawsuit that could cost billions.
DiNapoli’s efforts, according to Chevron, are the result of at least $60,000 in campaign donations from people connected to the case.
The controversial lawsuit pits Chevron against a group in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, that claims years of oil drilling left them with serious health and environmental problems.
Courts in Ecuador have ordered Chevron to pay $18 billion for “intentional contamination” of the jungle.
Chevron has contested the judgment and is countersuing.