Harrison v. The Republic of Sudan

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 16, 2021
Docket1:13-cv-03127
StatusUnknown

This text of Harrison v. The Republic of Sudan (Harrison v. The Republic of Sudan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harrison v. The Republic of Sudan, (S.D.N.Y. 2021).

Opinion

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK.

RICK HARRISON, et al., Plaintiffs, Case No. 1:13-cv-03127 (PKC) -against- STIPULATION, ORDER AND JUDGMENT DIRECTING THE REPUBLIC OF SUDAN, TURNOVER OF FUNDS AND THE DISCHARGE AND RELEASE OF Defendant. GARNISHEE THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON

This Stipulation, Order, and Judgment is entered into between respondent/garnishee The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon”) and third-party respondent Sudanese Libyan Investment and Development Co. Ltd. (“SLID”), by their respective undersigned counsel. WHEREAS: 1, Petitioners Rick Harrison et al. (“Petitioners” or the “Harrison plaintiffs”) were the plaintiffs in an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (the “D.C. District Court”) entitled Harrison, et al. v. Republic of Sudan, No. 10-cv-1689 (RCL) (D.D.C.), in which a default judgment was entered against the Republic of the Sudan (the “Sudan”) on March 30, 2012, in the amount of 14,705,896. 2. As explained further below, that default judgment has since been vacated as a result of a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court dated March 26, 2019. Sudan and the Harrison plaintiffs subsequently settled the case and jointly dismissed the underlying action — which was the predicate for this action -— by a stipulation that was endorsed by the D.C. District Court on April 6, 2020. Harrison, et al. v. Republic of Sudan, No. 1:10-cv-01689 (D.D.C.) (Doc. No. 75) (Stipulation of Dismissal).

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3. Petitioners registered the default judgment in this Court on October 2, 2012, in the related miscellaneous proceeding entitled Harrison, et al. v. Republic of Sudan, No. 12-me-0328- PI Gudgment No. 12,1727). 4, Petitioners thereafter commenced this proceeding and, on June 19, 2014, filed an Amended Omnibus Petition for Turnover Order (ECF No. 138) seeking an order directing the turnover of, among other assets, funds held by BNY Mellon in a blocked account with account number ending in 51900 (the “Blocked Account”), 5, The funds held in the Blocked Account consist of the proceeds, plus interest, in the total amount of $513,608.19 as of February 3, 2021. The Blocked Account was originally established upon BNY Mellon’s block of an underlying electronic tunds transfer (“EFT”), in the amount of $300,000, on June 1, 1992, pursuant to certain sanctions regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the United States Department of the Treasury. 6. The parties to the EFT were (i) the Central Bank of Sudan (the “Central Bank”); (ii) the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the “Federal Reserve”); (iii) BNY Mellon; (iv) Al Shamal Islamic Bank (“Al Shamal”); and (iv) SLID, which was the beneficiary of the EFT. 7. On August 4, 2014, BNY Mellon fited a Third-Party Petition for Interpleader and Other Relief (the “Interpleader Petition”) (ECF No. 217) for a determination of the rights, if any, of Petitioners and the third-party respondents as to multiple blocked assets, including the Blocked Account. 8. By Order and Judgment entered on January 4, 2017 (the “Turnover Judgment,” ECF No. 506), the Court ruled that the Blocked Account was subject to execution and directed BNY Mellon to pay the Blocked Account’s funds to Petitioners within 30 days of the entry of the Turnover Judgment.

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9, On February 3, 2017, before the Turnover Judgment had been complied with, the Central Bank appeared in the case and filed an appeal from the Turnover Judgment in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. By stipulation dated May 30, 2017 among the Central Bank, Petitioners and BNY Mellon, the Central Bank withdrew that appeal, and the Central Bank moved to vacate the Turnover Order on June 23, 2017 under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(4) (ECF No. 532). 10. By Order dated October 24, 2017 (ECF No. 544), the Court directed the Federal Reserve to submit its position on the motion. In its submission, filed on November 21, 2017 (ECF No, 549), the Federal Reserve disclaimed an interest in the Blocked Account. lf. By Order dated January 5, 2018 (ECF No. 550), the Court denied the Central Bank’s motion to vacate the Turnover Judgment, and on February |, 2018, the Central Bank filed an appeal from that Order. 12. While the Central Bank’s appeal was pending, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Republic of Sudan v. Harrison, 139 S. Ct. 1048 (2019), ruled that the Harrison plaintiffs had failed to effect service on the Sudan pursuant to Section 1608 of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and that the D.C. District Court had thus lacked jurisdiction to enter the Harrison plaintiffs’ default judgment against the Sudan — the default judgment on which the Turnover Judgment was later based. 13. By Order dated September 11, 2019, the D.C. District Court in Harrison, on remand, vacated the default judgment against the Sudan. 14. As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision voiding the underlying default judgment, by Order dated February 14, 2020, the Second Circuit vacated both the Turnover

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Judgment and this Court’s January 5, 2018 Order denying the Central Bank’s motion to vacate the Turnover Judgment. 15. After the Second Circuit issued its February 14, 2020 Order, the Harrison plaintifts and the Sudan reached a settlement of the Harrison plaintiffs’ underlying action in the D.C. District Court and, on April 3, 2020, filed a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice that the D.C. District Court endorsed on April 6, 2020. (See Harrison v. Republic of Sudan, Doc. No. 75.) 16. The Central Bank and the Harrison plaintiffs wrote a joint letter to this Court on August 12, 2020 (Doc. No. 561), stating that in view of the U.S. Supreme Court’s March 2019 decision, the September 2019 Order of the D.C. District Court vacating the default judgment against the Sudan, the February 14, 2020 Order of the Second Circuit vacating the Turnover Judgment, and the parties’ April 2020 joint stipulation of dismissal endorsed by the D.C. District Court, the parties agreed that the enforcement proceedings in this Court should be closed and stood ready to submit a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice pending disposition of the Blocked Funds. In that letter, the Central Bank stated its intention to work with BNY Mellon to return the funds in the Blocked Account to the beneficiary of the blocked EFT underlying the Account. 17. The Central Bank wrote another letter to this Court on November 2, 2020 (Doc No. 567), stating that the Central Bank had no claim to the funds in the Blocked Account, and that the blocked funds should be returned to SLID as the beneficiary of the original wire transfer. The Central Bank reaffirmed that it would continue to work with BNY Mellon to facilitate the return of the blocked funds to SLID. As a result, undersigned counsel entered an appearance for SLID on February 11, 2021. 18. SLID is a private Sudanese company that is indirectly owned by a Libyan governmental entity, the Libyan Investment Authority (“LIA”). The LIA’s assets in the United

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States had been subject to blocking under the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 570, until the issuance by OFAC of General License 11 on December 16, 2011. General License 11 unblocked all Government of Libya assets, with the exception of funds and precious metals of the LIA that had previously been blocked.

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Related

Republic of Sudan v. Harrison
587 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 2019)

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Bluebook (online)
Harrison v. The Republic of Sudan, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harrison-v-the-republic-of-sudan-nysd-2021.