Judge: Venezuela notes lawsuit should stay in Ohio

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio is the appropriate forum for an investors’ lawsuit seeking to collect $100 million on three-decade-old Venezuelan promissory notes, despite concerns over document translation and witness transportation, a federal judge ruled.

Keeping the case in Ohio is more efficient, and there is clear evidence of a strong connection to Columbus, where the investors’ company is located, according to U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus.

“This case is a complex dispute involving parties of different nationalities,” Judge Sargus said in a 21-page ruling late Tuesday. “There will undoubtedly be complications and inconveniences for the parties regardless of the forum in which it ultimately proceeds.”

Nevertheless, the judge said he was not convinced that keeping the case in Ohio “will be oppressive, vexatious, or otherwise unduly burdensome” to Venezuela, the defendant.

Messages left with the Ohio attorney representing Venezuela were not immediately returned today.