LOS ANGELES — A California judge yesterday dismissed two lawsuits by purported Nicaraguan banana plantation workers against U.S. food giant Dole and other companies on grounds of fraud and attempted extortion.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney ruled after hearing three days of testimony that detailed a scheme to recruit men who would claim they were rendered sterile by exposure to a pesticide in the 1970s.

Witnesses and investigators told of being in fear for their lives for exposing the fraud.

The judge denounced the lawyers who hatched the scheme and said there were a group of corrupt Nicaraguan judges "devouring bribes" to make judgments and aid the scheme.

The lawsuits ended up in the California court to seek enforcement of extravagant damages determined by Nicaraguan judges.

"What has occurred here is not just a fraud on the court, it is blatant extortion on the defendant. ... The record is so outrageous and profound," she said.

Dole attorney Scott Edelman said he was pleased with the outcome but sad to see "blatant fraud."

"This is what you expect to read in a novel, not something you expect to see in court," he said.

Chaney said that as a result of the scheme no one will ever know whether workers were actually injured by pesticides in Nicaragua.