45.6 F
New York
Friday, March 29, 2024

Judge Brian Cogan Rejects Arab Bank Bid to Overturn Terrorism-Funding Verdict

Related Articles

-Advertisement-

Must read

The Arab Bank’s headquarters in Amman, Jordan. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

A Brooklyn district judge on Wednesday, April 8, rejected a bid by Jordan-based Arab Bank to overturn a verdict by a jury that found it liable for supporting terrorism against Israelis.

The bank was originally sued by the victims of 24 terror attacks in Israel that have been blamed on the Palestinian terror group Hamas. The plaintiffs accused Arab Bank of providing Hamas with material and financial support. The case marked the first time in U.S. history that a bank stood trial over charges stemming from the Anti-Terrorism Act, which enables American victims of U.S.-designated foreign terror groups to seek compensation.

The jury’s verdict last September “was based on volumes of damning circumstantial evidence that [the] defendant knew its customers were terrorists,” U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan said Wednesday in a ruling relating to post-trial motions, calling Arab Bank “willfully blind” to the Hamas ties of charities it had routed money to. But the judge did dismiss a pair of claims relating to two of the 24 terror attacks included in the lawsuit, citing insufficient evidence that Hamas had orchestrated those attacks.

In one of the two attacks, Cogan said while “Hamas certainly bears some moral responsibility … there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that plaintiffs had proven Hamas committed these attacks by a preponderance of evidence.”

Cogan also refused to certify an interlocutory appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the liability verdict.

The case is believed to be the first time a financial institution has been tried on allegations it violated the Anti-Terrorism Act’s civil provisions. Cogan presided over the approximately six-week trial and will preside over an upcoming damages portion in Linde v. Arab Bank, 04-CV-2799.

Jury selection on a damages trial for three attacks, two suicide bombings and a roadside attack is scheduled to begin July 13.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have not yet specified damages.

In their post-verdict motions, the Jordanian bank, which hotly disputes that it knowingly aided terrorists, said at the very least a new trial was required to correct “a miscarriage of justice” (NYLJ, Oct. 14, 2014).

Cogan said the bank’s motion dissected the financial services it provided to individuals and organizations “without ever addressing the collective weight of all of these forms of support as evidence of either proximate causation or scienter. As did the jury, I reject this focus on the trees over the forest.”

The court’s opinion “confirms that there was overwhelming evidence of the defendant’s having knowing provided material support to Hamas,” said Gary Osen, an attorney for several of the victims, Reuters reported. On July 13, Judge Cogan will preside over a hearing to determine the financial damages Arab Bank must pay for the three of the attacks.

(JNS.org, with excerpts from NYLawJournal)

balance of natureDonate

Latest article

- Advertisement -