Maney & González-Félix, PC

Representative Clients and Matters

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Some representative clients and matters handled by the Firm and its lawyers include the following:
 

• The United Mexican States in “Pemexgate.”

 

The Firm represented the United Mexican States in the action dubbed by the Mexican press as "Pemexgate." The Firm's efforts resulted in the recovery of more than $40 million that, as part of more than $200 million, had been diverted from Petroleos Mexicanos (“Pemex”), an agency of the Mexican government, by the then-ruling political party in Mexico to fund its presidential campaign. All funds that reached the United States were returned to Mexico. One history of the dispute is the book by Lorenzo Córdova and Ciro Murayama, "Elecciones, Dinero y Corrupción: Pemexgate y Amigos de Fox."

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• Oceanografía and Amado Yáñez v. Citigroup

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The Firm currently represents Oceanografía and its principal owner, Amado Yáñez, in a multibillion dollar lawsuit against Citigroup in federal court in New York. The lawsuit alleges that Citigroup falsely claimed that Oceanografía and Amado Yáñez were responsible for the bank fraud of Citi's subsidiary Banamex, now Citibanamex.

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• The Republic of Peru in its claim to the remains of the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes

 

The Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes was one of the last treasure ships to leave the nation that is now Peru for Spain. Two centuries after it was sunk by the British Royal Navy, its remains were discovered in international waters. The Firm represented Peru's ownership claims against the competing claims of the Kingdom of Spain and Odyssey Marine.

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• The Republic of Iraq in relation to the corruption of the United Nations Oil for Food Programme

 

The Firm represented the Republic of Iraq seeking recovery for the systematic corruption of the United Nations Oil for Food Programme. The corruption was chronicled in Paul Volcker's book, Good Intentions Corrupted: The Oil-for-Food Scandal and the Threat to the U.N. The main lawsuit filed by the Firm was described by Richard Cassin in his book, Bribery Everywhere: Chronicles from the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, in the Chapter, "Shock and Awe in U.S. Federal Court."

 

• Various Matters for Petroleos Mexicanos or Pemex

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For thirty years, Mark Maney has represented Pemex in a number of significant matters, many of which have resulted in published opinions. The matters include:

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• The “Stolen Oil” cases

The Firm represented Pemex in various actions seeking recovery from the US purchasers of gas condensate stolen from Pemex's facilities in Northern Mexico. Millions of dollars was recovered from large multinational corporations. The matters and the lawsuit were described in the book, El Cártel Negro, by Ana Lilia Pérez.

 

• Petroleos Mexicanos v. Crawford, et al.

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In the first civil lawsuit by the direct victim of a bribery scheme, Pemex sued a group of international enterprises that had collectively paid more than $100 million in bribes to two of Pemex’ top officers. After years of legal disputes, the matter was settled.

 

• Arriba v. Pemex

 

Arriba Ltd. sued Pemex for $1.8 billion dollars related to an alleged agreement to provide it slop oil. The matter was dismissed on the basis of a sovereign immunity.
 

• Closure of the Laredo Office

 

Mark Maney was retained to oversee the closure of its Laredo Office, which uncovered systematic fraud. Civil RICO claims and criminal charges were brought against the officers and employees involved, resulting in multi-million dollar RICO judgments and multi-year prison sentences.

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• Sovereign Immunity claims
   

Mark Maney was also the attorney for Pemex when various aspects of its immunity was established in the United States, including the first matter in which the separate immunity of its divisions was recognized and the first matter in which any sovereign was held to be immune from discovery as a third party.

 

• Mexico's Social Security Institute - redress for acts of public corruption

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The Firm represented the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in a civil action against Orthofix International related to Orthofix's violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (or FCPA). The matter settled.

 

• Mexico's Comisión Federal de Electricidad (the “CFE”) - redress for corruption

 

The CFE is an agency of the Mexican government that operates Mexico’s electrical needs. The Firm represented the CFE in various actions redressing public corruption, including the successful presentation of restitution claim in the criminal action against Marco Antonio Delgado, who was convicted in federal court in El Paso of defrauding the CFE of millions of dollars. 

 

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• The Official Employment Related Issues Committee in the Enron Bankruptcy 

 

Mark Maney was lead trial counsel in a two month trial in which the Enron Bankruptcy Estate successfully recovered more than $100 million in “bonuses” that were paid to Enron officers the day before Enron filed bankruptcy. The recovery was opposed by many of the largest law firms in the country. In a hundred-page opinion the Bankruptcy Court awarded all relief requested.

 

• Gerardo de Prevoisin against claims by Aeromexico

 

The Firm represented Gerardo de Prevoisin when he was ousted as Chairman and controlling stockholder of Aeromexico based on allegations that he embezzled millions from the company. At first, criminal charges were brought against him. In a politically charged response, Sr. de Prevoisin asserted that the alleged embezzlement actually involved illegal campaign contributions extorted from Aeromexico by the then ruling political party—the PRI. Aeromexico then brought three civil lawsuits against Sr. de Prevoisin in the United States. Mark Maney represented Sr. de Prevoisin in the US actions. After obtaining the dismissal of two of the three lawsuits, we adopted the strategy of using the third action chiefly to obtain discovery to use in the parallel Mexican criminal proceedings. The last civil case was ultimately tried, with Mark Maney as chief counsel. The court affirmed Sr. de Prevoisin's claim that the allegedly embezzled funds were campaign contributions: “The Court finds that PRI solicited campaign contributions from Aeromexico in 1993 and throughout 1994; Prevoisin relayed such solicitations to the Executive Committee; financial contributions were authorized by Aeromexico for the benefit of PRI between 1993 and 1994; that some of the financial contributions of Aeromexico to PRI were intended to include the Transferred Funds; that the Transferred Funds wired to the Citibank Account, Prevoisin’s personal account ….” The trial court’s rulings were affirmed on appeal.

 

• Joseph Nichols (pro bono death penalty challenge)

For more than 15 years, Mark Maney was one of the attorneys representing Joseph Nichols, who had been condemned to death in Texas. In August of 1992, Judge David Hittner of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas ordered Joseph Nichols retried or released in 120 days, but that order was reversed by the Court of Appeals. Ultimately, defense counsels’ efforts were unsuccessful.

 

• Valero and Hitchcock's "The Birds"

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Thousands of migratory grackles swarmed a substation dedicated to one of Valero’s most technologically advanced refineries. In what has to be one of the largest bird shit cases in history, the refinery suffered a complete and sudden shutdown when the waste left by migratory grackles mixed with a misty rain, causing a blinding short out Represented by Mark Maney, Valero sued Central Power & Light Company, which maintained the substation. The case involved complicated legal issues surrounding CP&L’s published tariffs, which purported to immunize CP&L from the effects of power outages, and factual issues regarding the causation of the short (CP&L claimed it was caused by lightning, not guano) and Valero’s business loss claim. The matter settled for a confidential amount.

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• Intrepid Drilling-Drilling Operations

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The Firm currently represents Mississippi-based Intrepid Drilling in Louisiana state court. Intrepid seeks damages for damages to its well caused by a negligent drilling contractor.

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• Shareholder Disputes
   

The Firm has handled a number of matters involving shareholder disputes and majority shareholder oppression, failed mergers and securities fraud.

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