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Plaintiffs Suing Banks for Allegedly Aiding Terror Groups Have Yet to Win a Case
By Brian Monroe
printMore than a dozen lawsuits against banks that allegedly provided accounts for terrorist organizations have stalled in court over the past five years, with none yet getting a trial date, court documents show. Since 2004, thousands of litigants have brought the suits against U.S. and foreign financial institutions that purportedly provided banking services to branches of blacklisted terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Qaida. The plaintiffs, which include terrorist victims or surviving members of the deceased, have targeted UBS AG, American Express, National Westminster, Credit Lyonnais and other well known banks. The cases hinge upon the Antiterrorism Act of 1996,...
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The top U.S. court Monday rejected a petition by Arab Bank seeking to shield it from potential penalties for not turning over records to plaintiffs claiming the institution had terrorist clients.
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The number of lawsuits against banks accused of providing financial services to designated terrorist groups may increase by more than fourfold this year, say terrorism analysts and attorneys.
A group of 90 American, Israeli and Canadian citizens are suing American Express Bank and Lebanese Canadian Bank for $650 million, alleging the institutions provided financial services to blacklisted terror group Hizbollah.
Four Canadians are suing the Montreal branch of Lebanese-Canadian Bank, alleging that the institution knowingly provided financial services to Hizbollah, an organization blacklisted internationally for terrorism.
Israeli lawyer Itsana Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who represents victims of terrorism in lawsuits against banks, spoke recently with Fortent Inform reporter Brian Orsak about the suits and what banks should be doing to better monitor for terrorists attempting to exploit the financial system.
Swiss bank UBS faces its second civil lawsuit in five months for allegedly processing transactions tied to Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. Plaintiffs in the suit say the bank should pay no less than $500 million for providing financial services to Iran, a "state sponsor of terrorism"
Plaintiffs charge in the lawsuit that Switzerland-based UBS knowingly provided financial services for Hamas, a Palestinian political organization blacklisted in the U.S. for terrorism since 1995. The group is purportedly responsible for 2004 bombing in Bethlehem that resulted in 11 deaths.
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The widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl sued the bank, claiming it knowingly maintained accounts for two organizations tied by the U.S. Treasury Department to Pearl's 2002 kidnapping and murder.