US soldiers sue over terror funds
by Christie Smythe,
2014-11-12 06:40:14.0
BROOKLYN — Barclays, HSBC and four other banks were accused in a lawsuit by US soldiers of helping Iran process billions of dollars in transfers and thereby finance terrorists who attacked Americans in Iraq.
Lenders including Standard Chartered Bank, Credit Suisse Group and Royal Bank of Scotland conspired with Iran and its banks to withhold data from transactions, enabling them to circumvent monitoring by US regulators, the soldiers said in a complaint yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
The conspiracy, dating to 1987, gave Iran a means to transfer at least $150m to Hezbollah and other terrorist and militant groups, allowing them to carry out dozens of roadside bombings and other attacks against the US military, according to the complaint. "This is a lawsuit that could materially alter the US banking landscape," said Sandy Chen, an analyst at Cenkos Securities in London. "If these allegations are shown to be true, an avalanche of antiterrorism legislation would tumble upon these nonUS banks" including a "possible suspension of US banking licenses," he said.
Each bank "understood that its conduct was part of a larger scheme engineered by Iran", according to the complaint.
"Each defendant also knew, or was deliberately indifferent to, the conspiracy’s purposes and criminal objectives." Soldiers wounded and families of those killed are seeking unspecified damages.
Representatives of Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered declined to comment on the lawsuit. A call to the offices of another defendant, a UK unit of Iran’s Bank Saderat, was not immediately returned.
Standard Chartered agreed in August 2012 to pay $340m to the New York Department of Financial Services for its role in hiding or disguising the identity of Iranian clients in billions of dollars worth of wire transfers. In December of that year the bank agreed to pay $327m to resolve similar issues with the US Justice Department, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Manhattan District Attorney.
New York and US officials have reopened investigations to determine whether Standard Chartered withheld evidence of Iran sanctions violations, two people familiar with the matter said.
The soldiers’ lawsuit follows a verdict in September in a separate terrorism financing case against Jordan’s largest lender, Arab Bank. Jurors found the lender was liable for deaths and injuries of US citizens in about two dozen attacks carried out by Hamas in and near Israel.
Arab Bank said it didn’t intend to conduct transactions for terrorists and was subject to an unfair trial. It is seeking permission to appeal. Damages haven’t been determined in the case.
Barclays, HSBC and other banks accused of helping terrorists in Iraq "knowingly participated in the conspiracy", said Gary Osen, a lawyer who represents plaintiffs in that case and the one against Arab Bank. "All of them took steps to make it happen."
Attacks at issue occurred from about 2004 to 2011 and included an incident on January 20 2007, when terrorists gained access to a compound where US officers were meeting Iraqi counterparts.
Terrorists with the militia group Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, disguised in US-style military uniforms, arrived at the compound in a convoy of black GMC Suburban trucks, according to the complaint. They detonated explosives, killing one US soldier who jumped on a grenade, and then abducted and murdered four other soldiers, according to the complaint.
The attack was alleged to have been masterminded by a Hezbollah operative with other Iran-backed groups also involved in planning and overseeing it, according to the complaint.
The conduct of Iran and the militant groups "violated the laws of armed conflict", plaintiffs said in the complaint. "No declared war or armed conflict existed between the governments of US and Iran, and the injuries plaintiffs sustained were not the result of a declared war with Iran."
Bloomberg
Picture: REUTERS
BROOKLYN — Barclays, HSBC and four other banks were accused in a lawsuit by US soldiers of helping Iran process billions of dollars in transfers and thereby finance terrorists who attacked Americans in Iraq.
Lenders including Standard Chartered Bank, Credit Suisse Group and Royal Bank of Scotland conspired with Iran and its banks to withhold data from transactions, enabling them to circumvent monitoring by US regulators, the soldiers said in a complaint yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.
The conspiracy, dating to 1987, gave Iran a means to transfer at least $150m to Hezbollah and other terrorist and militant groups, allowing them to carry out dozens of roadside bombings and other attacks against the US military, according to the complaint. "This is a lawsuit that could materially alter the US banking landscape," said Sandy Chen, an analyst at Cenkos Securities in London. "If these allegations are shown to be true, an avalanche of antiterrorism legislation would tumble upon these nonUS banks" including a "possible suspension of US banking licenses," he said.
Each bank "understood that its conduct was part of a larger scheme engineered by Iran", according to the complaint.
"Each defendant also knew, or was deliberately indifferent to, the conspiracy’s purposes and criminal objectives." Soldiers wounded and families of those killed are seeking unspecified damages.
Representatives of Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered declined to comment on the lawsuit. A call to the offices of another defendant, a UK unit of Iran’s Bank Saderat, was not immediately returned.
Standard Chartered agreed in August 2012 to pay $340m to the New York Department of Financial Services for its role in hiding or disguising the identity of Iranian clients in billions of dollars worth of wire transfers. In December of that year the bank agreed to pay $327m to resolve similar issues with the US Justice Department, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Manhattan District Attorney.
New York and US officials have reopened investigations to determine whether Standard Chartered withheld evidence of Iran sanctions violations, two people familiar with the matter said.
The soldiers’ lawsuit follows a verdict in September in a separate terrorism financing case against Jordan’s largest lender, Arab Bank. Jurors found the lender was liable for deaths and injuries of US citizens in about two dozen attacks carried out by Hamas in and near Israel.
Arab Bank said it didn’t intend to conduct transactions for terrorists and was subject to an unfair trial. It is seeking permission to appeal. Damages haven’t been determined in the case.
Barclays, HSBC and other banks accused of helping terrorists in Iraq "knowingly participated in the conspiracy", said Gary Osen, a lawyer who represents plaintiffs in that case and the one against Arab Bank. "All of them took steps to make it happen."
Attacks at issue occurred from about 2004 to 2011 and included an incident on January 20 2007, when terrorists gained access to a compound where US officers were meeting Iraqi counterparts.
Terrorists with the militia group Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, disguised in US-style military uniforms, arrived at the compound in a convoy of black GMC Suburban trucks, according to the complaint. They detonated explosives, killing one US soldier who jumped on a grenade, and then abducted and murdered four other soldiers, according to the complaint.
The attack was alleged to have been masterminded by a Hezbollah operative with other Iran-backed groups also involved in planning and overseeing it, according to the complaint.
The conduct of Iran and the militant groups "violated the laws of armed conflict", plaintiffs said in the complaint. "No declared war or armed conflict existed between the governments of US and Iran, and the injuries plaintiffs sustained were not the result of a declared war with Iran."
Bloomberg
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