Judge dismisses oilmen's effort to collect from third parties

A federal judge has refused to allow two Texas oilmen sued for paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein to go after third parties they say did the same thing. Oscar Wyatt Jr., David Chalmers and their companies, NuCoastal Corp. and Bayoil (USA) Inc., face a lawsuit in the District of Columbia that blames them for three terrorist attacks in Israel in 2001 and 2002, Courthouse News Service reported Wednesday. The complaint filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act, charges they paid kickbacks to Saddam, violating the terms of the Oil for Food Program, and that Iraq then used the money to fund terrorism outside its borders. In a complaint filed in 2012, Wyatt and Chalmers said that other companies or individuals who also made payoffs should share in the damages. U.S. District Judge Gray Miller said last week the act does not allow that kind of third-party claim. He also ruled that Wyatt and Chalmers cannot amend their complaint, which he said would be "futile."