Jury: Arab Bank liable in terror attacks

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By TOM HAYS

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. jury found on Monday that a large Jordan-based bank should be held responsible for a wave of Hamas-sanctioned suicide bombings in the early 2000s that left several Americans dead or wounded.

Jurors reached the unanimous verdict in a terrorism financing lawsuit against Arab Bank after deliberating two days in at a civil trial in federal court in Brooklyn.

Plaintiff's lawyer Gary Osen said it's the first time a bank has been found liable for knowingly supporting a terrorist group.

"The question now is how the rest of the financial world, regulators and governments deal with Arab Bank," Osen said.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140922/ap-us--terrorism-lawsuit-1dd304b3bd.html

[msongs]

1. so Israeli banks don't get this treatment. nt

[cstanleytech]

4. Its possible, just gotta build a strong enough case for a jury.

Real question though is how are they going to collect when the banks are overseas?

[freshwest]

2. Over the years, a number of banks have been caught money laundering for bad groups.

[kelliekat44]

3. I take it the Israel is not included as one of the bad groups? No matter what they do. nt

[delrem]

5. That's correct. And it isn't just Israel. nt.

[freshwest]

6. Unsure of your 'take' of my comment. This is not I/P. Examples of bad groups:

Employees of Romney Family's Secret Bank Tied to Fraud, Money Laundering and Drug Cartels

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021592819

Mexican Drug Cartels Stunning Files Link HSBC Money Laundering Biggest Bank Fraud Case

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x621660

STUNNING! Wells Fargo launders Mexican drug cartel money, then invests in for-profit prisons

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002553981

American Banks 'High' On Drug Money" Whistleblower Blew Lid Off Wachovia-Drug Cartel $$$ Laundering

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1276055

Elizabeth Warren Confronts the Atrocity of Drug Money Laundering by Big Banks

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022493230

More to the point, this is what the OP is about:

Too Big to Jail: Big Banks Can Finance Terrorists and Walk Away Scot-Free

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021970802

HSBC Executive Resigns at Senate Money Laundering Hearing

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002964269

Icing on the cake:

Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7218767

[azurnoir]

7. I see an appeal in the future perhaps based on this part of the article

The defense also argued that people the plaintiffs identified as Hamas operatives who did business with the bank weren't on a terrorist watch lists compiled by authorities in the United States and other Western nations. The plaintiffs "are asking you to make your own list" based on the word of their experts, Stephens told the jury in closing arguments.

"The bank relies on the government to tell them who the terrorists are and you wouldn't want it any other way," he said.

Plaintiff attorney Tab Turner argued that the identities of Hamas leaders were so well-known in the region, it was impossible to believe that Arab Bank executives' testimony that they didn't recognize them. Before trial, the bank had refused to turn over the account records to the plaintiffs, citing privacy regulations - a decision that resulted in a court sanction instructing that the jury be allowed to infer that the withheld records could contain evidence damaging to the bank.

"What is it that the bank was so worried about they didn't want you to see it? They didn't want you to see who was giving who money and for what," Turner said.