In December 2004, in partnership with Motley Rice LLC and several other US law firms, we launched the first major civil counter-terrorism lawsuit on behalf of US citizens and non-US citizen victims of terrorist attacks in the United States against the Arab Bank, the largest bank in the Middle East.

Arab Bank transferred over $200 million from the Saudi Committee to Support the Al Aqsa\Al Quds Intifada from 2001 to 2004. Our research task force has been able to document transfers to accounts opened by Arab Bank at its branches in the Palestinian territories for the benefit of the families of suicide bombers and other terrorists serving sentences for murder, assault and terrorist crimes. In addition, we have obtained evidence that Arab Bank held accounts for senior Hamas leaders, designated by the US government as terrorists.

We allege that Arab Bank aided and abetted the perpetration of a systematic campaign of genocide, crimes against humanity, terrorism and financing terrorism which resulted in the murder and maiming of thousands of victims.

In 2007, the US Federal District Court in New York denied the Bank’s motion to dismiss in an historic ruling, establishing the principle that financing terrorism is a violation of international law and the non-US citizens have standing to bring this lawsuit in federal courts of the United States.

In 2010 Federal District court granted our motion for sanctions against defendant Arab Bank for its failure to produce documents in connection with bank accounts at Arab Bank branches in Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, the United Arab Republic and other countries. The Court ordered:

“At trial the jury will be instructed that, based on defendant’s failure to produce documents, it may, but is not required to infer: 1) that defendant provided financial services to organizations designated by the United States as Foreign Terrorist Organizations… (2) that defendant processed and distributed payments on behalf of the Saudi Committee to terrorists…and (3) that defendant did these acts knowingly and purposefully.”

PDF Documents

Examples of Evidence
Almog v. Arab Bank - First Amended Complaint
Afriat-Kurtzer v. Arab Bank - First Amended Complaint
Lev v. Arab Bank - Complaint part 1
Lev v. Arab Bank - Complaint continued, part 2
Almog v. Arab Bank i Opinion and Order Motion to Dismiss
Almog v. Arab Bank - Order of Sanctions
USA FINCen v. Arab Bank - Assessment of Monetary Penalty
Expert Opinion - Wedgwood Declaration