Irving Trust Co. v. Government of Iran

85 F.R.D. 135, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11113
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedJanuary 21, 1980
DocketCiv. A. No. 80-130
StatusPublished

This text of 85 F.R.D. 135 (Irving Trust Co. v. Government of Iran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Irving Trust Co. v. Government of Iran, 85 F.R.D. 135, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11113 (E.D. La. 1980).

Opinion

CHARLES SCHWARTZ, Jr., District Judge.

This is a non-jury civil suit brought pursuant to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, by a New York corporation, Irving Trust Company, against The Government of Iran and an agency of that government, Bank Omran. Subject matter jurisdiction is vested in this Court by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1330(a). Martropico Compania Naviera S.A. v. Perusahaan Pertambangan Minyak Dan Gas Bumi Negara, 428 F.Supp. 1035 (1977). Personal jurisdiction over the foreign entities is afforded by 28 U.S.C. § 1608. Gray v. Permanent Mission of People’s Republic of Congo to United Nations, 443 F.Supp. 816 (S.D.N.Y.1978), aff’d 580 F.2d 1044 (2nd Cir. 1978).

Plaintiffs herein indicate that they will serve the Iranian government pursuant to § 1608, and request this Court to issue a writ of attachment against Iranian assets located in this jurisdiction, under the provision of 28 U.S.C. § 1610(d):

(d) The property of a foreign state, as defined in section 1603(a) of this chapter, used for a commercial activity in the United States, shall not be immune from attachment prior to the entry of judgment in any action brought in a court of the United States or of a State, or prior to the elapse of the period of time provided in subsection (c) of this section, if—
(1) the foreign state has explicitly waived its immunity from attachment prior to judgment, notwithstanding any withdrawal of the waiver the foreign state may purport to effect except in accordance with the terms of the waiver,
and
(2) the purpose of the attachment is to secure satisfaction of a judgment that has been or may ultimately be entered against the foreign state, and not to obtain jurisdiction. (Emphasis added.)

The complaint alleges that the defendant, Bank Omran, is an agency or instrumentality of the Government of Iran, within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1603(b) and therefore, is subject to suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

The Government of Iran expressly waived its right to sovereign immunity and submitted to the jurisdiction of the United States courts in the Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights, August 5, 1955, United States — Iran, Articles III and IV, 8 U.S.T. 899, T.I.A.S. 3853.

Plaintiff asserts three causes of action, each of which is based upon defaulted payment on seven promissory notes. The relevant facts are as follows:

Joseph Canizaro, a New Orleans Real Estate Developer, together with his successive corporations (hereinafter Canizaro) executed seven promissory notes, totaling two million dollars plus interest, in favor of the plaintiff, Irving Trust Company, during the years 1978-79. All of these notes matured [137]*137on December 31, 1979 with interest accrued thereon in the amount of $138,351.02. Further interest is presently accruing at a flexible rate tied to plaintiff’s prime commercial interest rate. None of the notes have been paid by Canizaro despite plaintiff’s amicable demand.

The full amount of the notes, including principal and interest, is secured by a letter of credit from the defendant, Bank Omran to plaintiff, Irving Trust Company, with the provision that in the event of default by Canizaro, plaintiff Irving Trust Company is authorized to debit, in the amount of the default, an account that Bank Omran maintains at Irving Trust Company. However, the letter of credit has not been honored and plaintiff is unable to debit this account.

This same letter of credit is secured to the Bank of Omran by a fourteen million dollar collateral mortgage on Canal Place I, a Canizaro real estate development located in downtown New Orleans.

Plaintiff seeks to be made whole on the letter of credit from the Bank of Omran, and/or The Government of Iran, its majority owner. Plaintiff seeks to exercise Bank Omran’s rights against Canizaro under the collateral mortgage and collateral mortgage note to the extent of its claim as if it had been an original mortgagee.

Plaintiff’s claims are now in excess of $2,138,351.02 which was due and payable on December 31, 1979. Yet, plaintiff seeks to have this Court attach defendant’s interests in this state citing Canizaro and his interests as garnishees, and to hold said property subject to the further orders of this Court upon its furnishing a bond in the sum of $250.00 as is provided for in LSA R.S. LCCP Art. 3544. Plaintiff claims that the basis for the writ of attachment is Louisiana Civil Code Art. 3541(5), the non-resident writ of attachment.

Although as previously stated, the Court is of the opinion that it has jurisdiction pursuant to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, it is further of the opinion that plaintiff is not entitled to the form of writ of attachment it seeks herein, for the reasons hereinafter set out.

Relief in the form of an attachment is a harsh remedy and runs contrary to the fundamental concept that a person’s property should not be taken from him before he has been given an opportunity for the proper adjudication of his rights. Thus, statutes granting such relief should be strictly construed. First National Bank and Trust Co. of Vicksburg v. Drexler, 171 So. 151 (La. App. 2nd Cir. 1936). In particular it is necessary to determine if the Louisiana statute which plaintiff seeks to invoke is proper in the context of this case.

Louisiana practice recognizes two types of attachments:

1. Where the writ is merely incidental to a demand in personam.

2. Where the proceeding is in rem, operating only on the property seized. Burgin Bros. & McCane v. Barker Baking Co., 152 La. 1075, 95 So. 227 (La.S.Ct.1922); Johnson, J., Attachment and Sequestration, 38 T.L.R. 1 (1963).

The Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure sets out specific grounds for attachment in Article 3541:

A writ of attachment may be obtained when the defendant:
(1) Has concealed himself to avoid service of citation;
(2) Has mortgaged, assigned, or disposed of his property or some part thereof, or is about to do any of these acts, with intent to defraud his creditors or give an unfair preference to one or more of them;
(3) Has converted or is about to convert his property into money or evidences of debt, with intent to place it beyond the reach of his creditors;
(4) Has left the state permanently, or is about to do so before a judgment can be obtained and executed against him; or
(5) Is a nonresident who has no duly appointed agent for service of process within the state.

Plaintiff urges that non-resident attachment allowed by section 5, supra, is incidental to this demand in personam. The Louisiana courts have held that the purpose of [138]*138subsection 5 is the method for acquiring jurisdiction

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Related

Jet Line Services, Inc. v. M/V Marsa El Hariga
462 F. Supp. 1165 (D. Maryland, 1978)
First Nat. Bank & Trust Co. of Vicksburg v. Drexler
171 So. 151 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1936)
Sewerage & Water Board v. The Cumulus
172 F.2d 102 (Fifth Circuit, 1949)
McCane v. Barker Baking Co.
95 So. 227 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
85 F.R.D. 135, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/irving-trust-co-v-government-of-iran-laed-1980.