Bolivia suing Enron for $130 mln over gas pipeline

LA PAZ, Bolivia, March 18 (Reuters) - Bolivia said on Thursday it is suing bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. <ENRNQ.PK> to recoup $130 million paid for a 1994 gas pipeline project to Brazil.

"The Bolivian government is asking that Enron pay back $130 million," Juan Carlos Virreira, a presidential appointee investigating the so-called capitalization of state-owned firms, told reporters.

The pipeline began operating in 1998 and was ultimately financed by Petrobras <PETR4.SA> (nyse: PBR - news - people), Brazil's state oil firm. Enron did nothing to further the project, Virreira said, but charged the Bolivian government anyway.

If the state succeeds in this case, the money would go towards reducing the nation's budget deficit, Virreira said.

that's almost the whole article, but here's the link
http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/03/18/rtr1304694.html
My comment is, I am sure Enron is at fault, but you have to wonder how stupid Bolivia was when they paid Enron for work Enron did not do. But I guess they are not alone because isn't that what the US Army Corp is also doing right now? Paying and not receiving the services?

Enron took some of its debtors to court and sued them for payment on work Enron didn't do for them but since there was a signed contract, Enron expected payment. Enron won.

Bolivia doesn't have a snowball's chance.

suing their debtors. Unfriggenbelievable