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Arab Bank Ruling Is Bright Spot for Terrorism Plaintiffs

Default admin account — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:52:41 +0000

It's been a rough few months for plaintiffs seeking to hold companies liable in U.S. courts for overseas violence, culminating with last week's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. restricting the reach of the Alien Tort Statute. But plaintiffs caught a break Wednesday in a lawsuit targeting Arab Bank over its alleged financing of the Palestinian group Hamas.

Arab Bank Must Face Trial Over Terror Attacks, Judge Says

Default admin account — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:10:53 +0000

Arab Bank Plc (ARBK), Jordan’s largest lender, lost a bid to avoid a U.S. trial in a lawsuit brought by terrorism victims who accuse it of supporting attacks in Israel. U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon in Brooklyn, New York, yesterday rejected the bank’s request to throw out the case, sending it toward trial. The victims claim in their lawsuit that Arab Bank, based in Amman, “knowingly and purposefully supported” foreign terrorist organizations from 1995 to 2004 by providing financial support to terrorists, including administering payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. The bank has denied wrongdoing. “For nine years, it’s been the stated goal of all of the plaintiffs to have the opportunity to get their day in court,” Gary Osen, a lawyer for some of the plaintiffs, said after yesterday’s hearing. “This is certainly not the end of the process but it vindicates their right to have their day in court.”

NY Court to hear landmark terror financing case

Default admin account — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:57:24 +0000

US Eastern District of New York Judge Nina Gershon will hold a key hearing on Wednesday in what could be the first terror financing case against a bank to go to trial in United States history. The potential blockbuster case against Arab Bank has already been featured on CBS’s Sunday Morning show and, in addition to setting significant and binding precedents, could have a “meaningful impact on banks” that finance terror groups “for profit because they are indifferent to just another customer and don’t care,” said lead litigator Gary Osen.

CBS Sunday Morning News Broadcast

Default admin account — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:55:28 +0000

April 21, 2013 CBS Sunday Morning News broadcast aired a news story on Arab Bank financing Martyrs.

Victims of Hamas attacks to sue French bank that handled terror group's funds

Default admin account — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:41:03 +0000

It was nearly 10 years ago when Steve Averbach, a New Jersey-born Israeli police officer, realized a fellow passenger on a Jerusalem bus was a suicide bomber disguised as an Orthodox Jew and made a decision that saved potentially dozens of lives -- and changed his forever.

Credit Lyonnais Suite Over Middle East Attacks Nears Trial

Default admin account — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:59:17 +0000

Credit Lyonnais SA may have to face a trial over claims by victims of Middle East attacks that the bank aided a Hamas affiliate, a U.S. judge ruled. About 200 victims and family members affected by 14 separate attacks in Israel and Palestinian territories can move forward with their case, said U.S. District Judge Dora L. Irizarry in Brookly, New York.

Arab Bank Sanctions Order Appeal Dismissed by U.S. Court

Default admin account — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 19:05:58 +0000

Arab Bank Plc (ARKB)'s appeal of sanctions for not obeying discovery orders in a lawsuit brought by victims of terrorist attacks was dismissed by a federal appeals court in New York. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled today that it couldn't hear the bank's appeal of a sanctions order imposed by U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon in Brooklyn until after the consolidated suits pending before her have ended. "We conclude that the sanctions order is not a reviewable collateral order, and we therefore dismiss the bank's appeal for want of jurisdiction," the panel of judges said.

Las Vegas man wins battle to reclaim father's poster collection

Default admin account — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:48:42 +0000

Peter Sachs's father, Hans, went to his grave wondering whether the Nazis had destroyed the renowned poster collection he'd devoted his life to building. Imagine, then, how Peter felt when -67 years after his father's collection was seized - he discovered that 4,344 posters had not only survived the Nazis, but the Soviets and the East Germans.

Art cache stolen by Nazis and hidden by Soviets to be sold in NY

Default admin account — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:15:16 +0000

After decades in limbo, the remnants of a unique, jewish-owned poster colelction are back in the public eye -- at least for a few days. The Times of Israel by Samantha Karlin January 17, 2013. New York city - A

AP Interview: Posters seized by Nazis being sold

Default admin account — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:03:04 +0000

AP Interview: Posters seized by Nazis being sold. By David Rising/Associated Press 1.17.2013

Back on the Market

Default admin account — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:03:54 +0000

Eye Magazine - A sale of 1250 prewar posters from Dr Hans Sachs's legendary collection will take place in New York on 18, 19 and 20 January 2013, writes Graham Twemlow. The Guernsey's auction catalogue states that "...many of the posters in the collection are believed to be the sole surviving examples of those particular images."

After Lengthy Legal Fight, Nazi-Looted Poster Trove to be Sold at Guernsey's

Default admin account — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:22:14 +0000

Galleristny.com by Zoe Lescaze: Though there have been a number of drawn-out legal battles over Nazi-looted art in recent years, few have been as involved as the saga of the enormous Hans Sachs poster collection. From the lowest German court to the highest, Peter Sachs pursued the return of his father's 4,344 surviving posters, which were being held by the German Historical Museum in Berlin.

'Nazi-looted' posters to be auctioned - BBC

Default admin account — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:48:31 +0000

A rare collection of turn-of-the-century posters by some of the biggest names in art are to go under the hammer in New York. The collection was amassed by a Jewish dentist from Germany but was seized by Nazi soldiers in 1938. Around a third of the posters - some 4,300 - have survived, and include works by Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch and Toulouse Lautrec. The lot is valued at almost $6m (£3.7m), with some estimates suggesting it could reach double that amount at auction. James Kelly reports.

Thousands of Rare Posters Stolen by Nazis to Be Auctioned - DNAinfo.com

Default admin account — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:02:11 +0000

LENOX HILL — Thousands of rare posters that were stolen by Nazis more than 70 years ago will be auctioned next month to benefit the family of the Jewish man who originally owned them.

Hamas Finance Case Can Proceed Against Arab Bank

Default admin account — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:03:19 +0000

US Judge rules that Jordan-based bank can be held liable for holding Hamas funds by US citizen wounded in 2008 Hamas fire.

German Museum Ordered to Return Collection of Posters Seized by Nazis – New York Times

Default admin account — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:36:36 +0000

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/german-museum-ordered-to-return-collection-of-posters-seized-by-nazis/

GERMAN HIGH COURT RULES FAMOUS POSTER COLLECTION STOLEN BY THE NAZIS MUST BE RETURNED TO COLLECTOR’S SON

Default admin account — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:13:03 +0000

March 16, 2012 (KARLSRHUE, GERMANY): The German High Court (Bundesgerichtshof) issued its written opinion this morning confirming that Peter Sachs is the legal owner of his father’s stolen poster collection and that a German museum must return the collection to him. In a landmark case, the High Court’s ruling restores ownership of one of the largest and most famous poster collections in the world (estimated at approximately 4,200 vintage posters) to Mr. Sachs, the American son of Hans Sachs, the Jewish collector whose life’s work was stolen by the Gestapo in 1938. An appeals court ruled last year that notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Sachs was the owner of his father’s collection and that it had been unlawfully seized by the Nazis, the court lacked authority, under German law, to compel the German Historical Museum in Berlin (“DHM”) to return the poster collection to him. The High Court, in granting Mr. Sachs’ July 2010 petition, agreed to hear the appeal because “of the fundamental importance of the case,” noting that “in cases where restitution claims were impossible to file for factual reasons at the time- as in this case-, the issues of the relationship between restitution law and general civil laws is in need of review and clarification.”

Families of missionaries killed by Colombian rebels win legal round against Chiquita

Default admin account — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:20:23 +0000

(CNN) -- Tania Julin remembers the deep gut pain she felt when she found out nearly three years ago that Chiquita Brands International had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Marxist rebel group in Colombia that had abducted and killed her missionary husband.

CASE BROUGHT BY FAMILIES OF MURDERED AMERICAN MISSIONARIES AGAINST CHIQUITA FOR PROVIDING ILLEGAL PAYMENTS AND OTHER SUPPORT TO COLOMBIAN TERRORIST GROUP CAN GO FORWARD, FEDERAL JUDGE RULES

Default admin account — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:11:53 +0000

February 5, 2010 (WEST PALM BEACH, FL): A civil lawsuit (Julin et al. v. Chiquita Brands Int’l) brought by the New Tribes Mission of Sanford, Florida and the families of five missionaries kidnapped and murdered by the Colombian terrorist organization known as Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (“FARC”) against Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (“Chiquita”) can go forward according to a ruling issued today by Federal District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra.

Chiquita Must Face U.S. Suit Over Colombian Terrorist Murders

Default admin account — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:27:40 +0000

“We’re obviously gratified that the case will go forward,” Gary Osen, the lawyer for the missionaries’ families, said in an e-mail. “This is a significant victory for the victims’ families, but it’s only a first step towards accountability for Chiquita.”