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Worldwide Directories S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas File Lawsuit Against Yahoo! Inc. and Global Law Firm Baker & McKenzie to Reinstate USD $2.7 Billion JudgmentNEW YORK --(Business Wire)-- Mexican companies Worldwide Directories S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas today announced that they have filed a lawsuit against Yahoo! Inc. and global law firm Baker & McKenzie LLP, alleging that the technology giant and its legal counsel interfered with the Mexican judicial system in conspiring to have a USD $2.7 billion judgment against Yahoo! overturned. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges violations of RICO and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), as well as fraud, conspiracy and other related counts. The case is Worldwide Directories, S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas, S.A. de C. V. v. Yahoo! Inc, Yahoo de Mexico, S.A., Baker & McKenzie and Baker & McKenzie, S.C. The New York lawsuit seeks to enjoin Yahoo! and its attorneys from interfering with the orderly disposition of a Mexican lawsuit filed by the Plaintiffs against Yahoo! in 2011. That lawsuit alleged breach of contract in an agreement that granted Worldwide Directories and Ideas Interactivas the exclusive rights to develop and operate a series of local search and Yellow Pages projects in countries throughout the world. Based on the evidence prsented by the Plaintiffs, a Mexican court awarded Worldwide Directories and Ideas Interactivas damages in excess of USD $2.7 billion. According to the New York lawsuit, Yahoo! and Baker & McKenzie, tried but failed to intimidate the lower Mexican court judge into ruling in their favor. When Judgment was entered against them, they allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to corrupt the appellate Mexican judicial system, resulting in a fraudulent appellate judgment that reduced the Mexican district court's USD $2.7 billion damages award to just USD $172,500. "Our evidence, which includes sworn statements from the Mexican trial judge himself as well as other court personnel, strongly suggests that Yahoo!, through its lawyers at Baker & McKenzie, have interfered with the Mexican judicial system in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the Hobbs Act, among others," said David S. Stone, Managing Partner of Stone & Magnanini LLP, who represents the Plaintiffs in this matter. "We are seeking discovery to reveal the full extent of this conspiracy," said Stone's partner, Robert Magnanini, who filed the action. "We must ensure above all else, that our client, a small entrepreneur compared to Yahoo! and its considerable resources and global clout, is operating on an even playing field in the Mexican Courts so that this matter may be decided on its merits, rather than by intimidation and outside influences directed from the U.S." A copy of the lawsuit is available upon request. About Stone & Magnanini LLP Stone & Magnanini LLP is a New York-based law firm specializing in complex fraud litigation. The firm recently obtained a USD $10 million jury verdict in a patent infringement case against AOL (News - Alert), and has been involved in several of the largest whistleblower settlements in U.S. history. About Worldwide Directories, S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas, S.A. de C.V. Worldwide Directories is the holding company of Ideas Interactivas, a Mexican phone book publishing and local media company. They were the publishers of "Yahoo! Páginas Útiles", a printed phone book with an online yellow pages listing service that was available on Yahoo! Mexico's website.
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