Chiquita Helped Put More Than Bananas in Pockets of Terrorists

Investors that failed to do their homework might be going bananas because of the money they have lost since late last week. Shares of Chiquita Brands International

are being shot down again after suffering a hit Friday when a judge ruled against the company. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra on Friday rejected a request by the company to throw out claims by thousands of Colombians for damages against Chiquita for helping to fund paramilitary groups that engaged in torture and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The judge said the paramilitary groups targeted trade unionists and leftist activists. Chiquita made payments totaling $1.7 million to right-wing paramilitary groups during Colombia's civil war and was fined $25 million after pleading guilty in March 2007 to engaging in transactions with a terrorist group. Payments were made between 1997 and 2004. Chiquita has maintained it was blackmailed into paying the paramilitary groups to protect its employees and insists the lawsuits should be dismissed. "We are pleased that the court rejected most of plaintiffs' claims and specifically rejected claims that Chiquita supported terrorism," Chiquita Spokesman Ed Loyd said in a statement released Friday. "While the court allowed some claims to move forward, it is important to understand that at this stage of the proceedings, the court is required by law to treat plaintiffs' outrageous and false allegations as if they were true. Plaintiffs now have the burden of proving these allegations," Loyd said. Chiquita could not be reached by Benzinga for further comment. Shares of Chiquita are down approximately 2.5% year-to-date but are down almost 10% in the last month. The stock has a 52-week low of $11.10 and a high of $17.36.