Derwick Associates claims another victory against Otto Reich in NY bribery lawsuit

United States District Judge, J. Paul Oetken, dismissed former Western Hemisphere Affairs Secretary, Otto Reich, jurisdictional claims presented in a bribery lawsuit against Derwick Associates filed by the former diplomat in New York. In a stinging decision, Judge Oetken derides some of Reich's arguments about Derwick's executive Pedro Trebbau, stating:

Plaintiffs offer essentially the same set of facts in support of jurisdiction over Trebbau, with one important exception: Trebbau neither owns nor rents any real estate in New York at all. Instead, Plaintiffs contend, his New York residence is the home of his friend and banker, Eduardo Travieso. Plaintiffs argue that “given Defendants’ wealth and stature, it is simply implausible that they could maintain their extravagant lifestyles in Venezuela—a violent, third- world country beset by rampant blackouts, food shortages and gross poverty.” (Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Betancourt’s and Trebbau’s Motions to Dismiss, at 10 [Plaintiffs’ Memorandum].) And yet Plaintiffs would have the Court believe that a man of Trebbau’s estimable “wealth and stature” permanently intends to crash on his friend’s couch. (bold added)

Judge Oetken's decision is a thing of beauty. It demonstrates, for one, that due process, when functioning as intended, is never encumbered with tangential stuff that has no direct bearing on the issue at hand, which is determining jurisdiction on the basis of facts presented in this particular instance.

Having property, bank accounts, mortgages, visiting, and spending money in a place does not amount, in Judge Oetken's view, to being domiciled in that place. Ed Miliband would disagree though. So while Alejandro Betancourt -Derwick's CEO / $PRE.to third largest shareholder- admits to have just 35% of his total net worth in New York -Reich claims Betancourt keeps $68 million in NY banks- he is not domiciled in New York, and therefore New York courts have no jurisdiction over his affairs, as pertaining to bribery claims against Derwick Associates in the context of this lawsuit.

Reich basically failed to demonstrate that Betancourt and Trebbau were domiciled in New York. That's what it came down to. The lawsuit never got to the juicy part: bribery allegations that could have shed light on the manner in which Derwick got over a billion dollars in 12 no-bid contracts from the Venezuelan State.

In the meantime, US Federal Agencies and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office continue probing Derwick and its commercial activities. I have been told that there's a particular interest in exploring connections to Diosdado Cabello, who appears to have become target no 1 for US law enforcement interested in Venezuela.