Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp., facing a $27 billion pollution lawsuit in Ecuador, said revelations that an American who secretly recorded the judge overseeing the case was convicted of a drug-smuggling conspiracy won’t affect its reliance on information in the recordings given to the company.

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, said Aug. 31 that California resident Wayne Hansen was an “American businessman” whose tape recordings of meetings in Ecuador in May and June show that the judge is biased against the company and may have been involved in a $3 million bribery scheme.

“The content of the tapes is what’s really egregious here,” Don Campbell, a Chevron spokesman, said in a phone interview.

Hansen was imprisoned in Texas for a drug-smuggling conspiracy 20 years ago, said his attorney, Trevor Melby, in a phone interview yesterday. On Oct. 29, lawyers for Ecuadoreans suing Chevron publicized a report on Hansen by a private investigator they hired that disclosed the felony conviction.

“I know he spent time in prison,” Melby said. “I could say, ‘No, it didn’t happen,’ but that wouldn’t cut it.”

Melby said the videotapes of Hansen’s meetings with the Ecuadorean judge speak for themselves. “It doesn’t make any difference what Wayne’s past is,” Melby said. Hansen didn’t return a phone message seeking comment.

Hansen, of Bakersfield, California, has a fish-export business and a water cleanup business, Melby said. He said he doesn’t know why Hansen was in Ecuador in May and June when the tapes were made. Chevron isn’t paying Melby’s fees, the lawyer said. Chevron previously said it may pay Hansen’s legal bills.

Watch, Pen Cameras

Hansen and Diego Borja, a Chevron contractor, videotaped meetings they had with Judge Juan Nunez and Patricio Garcia, a member of Ecuador’s ruling party, using a watch and a pen equipped with small cameras.

Borja said in a statement supplied to Chevron through his attorney that they held meetings in Ecuador to promote a water- purification business and were asked to pay a $3 million bribe to garner government contracts that might result if Nunez ordered Chevron to clean up waste from oil drilling.

The recordings led Nunez to step down from the case, sparked an investigation in Ecuador and prompted Chevron to file an international arbitration claim against the South American country’s government. Nunez has denied wrongdoing.

Ecuadorean Investigation

Melby said he may advise Hansen not to talk with Ecuadorean prosecutors investigating the recordings.

Chevron has provided what it says is humanitarian assistance to Borja and his family, including paying for them to temporarily relocate to the U.S., paying legal and security fees and providing a temporary stipend, transportation, housing and other assistance. The company has declined to say where Borja is.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the report bolstered their claims that Chevron was behind the recordings to discredit the Ecuadorean justice system and avoid paying any judgment in the case.

“It’s highly relevant that the man Chevron calls a good Samaritan is a convicted drug trafficker,” said Steven Donziger, an American lawyer who represents residents of Ecuador’s Amazon region who are suing Chevron. “All of this really leads us to conclude that there’s a decent chance that Chevron concocted this whole thing to avoid trial.”

Chevron has no past association with Hansen and had no role in the recording, Campbell said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Gullo in San Francisco at kgullo@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 3, 2009 07:26 EST