US judge refuses harsh penalty in row over Newlead emails

A judge has refused to issue a judgment against NewLead Holdings as a sanction for former chief executive Michael Zolotas’ deletion of email evidence in a US court fight with trader TransAsia Commodities.

But New York Supreme Court Judge Charles Ramos has handed Zolotas a lesser penalty – ordering him to pay $15,000 in costs and attorney fees.

The judge wrote that it can be presumed that the executive had a “culpable state of mind” when he deleted some 1,400 emails after Cozen O’Connor lawyers for TransAsia requested them in its lawsuit, even though he still saved some emails.

Judge