Beirut Bombing Victims Say Standard Chartered Helped Iran Avoid Paying Judgments

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Survivors and families who lost loved ones in the 1983 Beirut bombing today accused Standard Chartered Bank, PLC and its New York Branch with supporting efforts by the Government of Iran to avoid payment of a $2.65 billion judgment awarded to the group for Iran's role in the bombing by hiding as much as $250 billion in Iranian transfers through the American banking system.

The charges included in a lawsuit filed in The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, specifically state that the survivors and families were significantly damaged by Standard Chartered's "wrongful conduct…because assets of Iran and its agents…were processed through New York without the required notice to OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control), preventing OFAC from disclosing their existence." The group says that had OFAC been able to tell them about the Iranian funds Standard Chartered was transferring, it may have attached some of them to pay the $2.65 billion judgment.

The lawsuit alleges Standard Chartered assisted Iran in concealing more than 60,000 wire transfer transactions by stripping information that would have linked the funds involved to Iranian banks and agencies.  The New York State Department of Financial Services recently charged Standard Chartered with fraudulently maintaining similar practices for almost ten years.

There are no specific damages demanded in the suit, rather it stipulates compensatory and punitive damages will be determined at trial.

This release is distributed by Saylor Company Public Relations Counsel under the authority and direction of Thomas Fay, Esq and Steven Perles, Esq., legal counsel.

SOURCE Saylor Company Public Relations Counsel under the authority and direction of Thomas Fay, Esq. and Steven Perles, Esq., legal counsel