Washington, March 6 (RHC)-- The oil giant Chevron has won a major victory in a lawsuit it brought against victims of its pollution in Ecuador. A group of indigenous plaintiffs won a landmark $9 billion judgment in 2011 for widespread contamination resulting from toxic dumping by Texaco, which Chevron later bought.

But Chevron sued the victims and their U.S. attorney, accusing them of bribing the judge in the case and presenting fraudulent evidence. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan agreed, ruling the plaintiffs used "corrupt means." He also barred collection of their $9 billion judgment in the United States.

In a statement, Chevron hailed what it called a "a resounding victory" that will make the Ecuadorean judgment "illegitimate and unenforceable." The plaintiffs say they plan to appeal and still pursue the $9 billion judgment in other countries.

The group Amazon Watch called the verdict "an example of Chevron buying and bullying its way to a verdict with 60 law firms and thousands of legal professionals hell-bent on exhausting the Ecuadorians and their allies. Such a verdict will ultimately prove useless in Chevron’s efforts to evade justice."