Martinez v. Republic of Cuba

149 F. Supp. 3d 469, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15726, 2016 WL 750302
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 1, 2016
Docket07 Civ. 6607 (VM)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 149 F. Supp. 3d 469 (Martinez v. Republic of Cuba) 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
Martinez v. Republic of Cuba, 149 F. Supp. 3d 469, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15726, 2016 WL 750302 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

[470]*470 DECISION AND ORDER

VICTOR MARRERO, United States District Judge.

Petitioner Ana Margarita Martinez (“Martinez”) brought this turnover action pursuant to Section 201(a) of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (“TRIA”), 28 U.S.C. Section 1610 note, to execute on a default judgment obtained by Martinez in Florida state court- in 2001 (“Florida Judgment”) against the Republic of Cuba (“Cuba”) for intentional torture and sexual battery committed against her by Martinez’s husband, a Cuban spy. To enforce her judgment, Martinez filed a turnover petition (“Petition”) in this Court against the New York branches of [redacted] and [redacted] (collectively, “Garnishee”). (Dkt. No. 75.)

The Court granted Martinez’s Petition by Order dated September 24, 2015 but stayed it on the United; States’ motion, permitting the United - States to , file a Statement of Interest informing the Court of its views on issues relevant to Martinez’s Petition. (Dkt. No. 76.) The Government subsequently submitted a Statement of Interest opposing turnover (“Statement of Interest”). (Dkt. No. 79.) Martinez filed an opposition to' the United States’ Statement of Interest (“Plaintiffs Opposition”) (Dkt. No. 84) that cited the recent decision in Vera v. Republic of Cuba, 12 Civ. 1596 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2015). With permission of the Court; the United States submitted an additional Statement of Intérest responding to issues raised by the Vera decision, (“Supplemental Statement”) (Dkt. No. 97), to which Martinez replied. (Dkt. No. 99.) The Court has received no further submissions.

Upon review of the Government’s' Statement of Interest and Supplemental Statement. of Interest and Martinez’s opposing papers, the Court finds that Martinez has not shown that the blocked electronic funds transfers (“EFTs”) at issue are subject to execution under TRIA. Accordingly, the Court denies Martinez’s Petition.

I. BACKGROUND1

A. MARTINEZ’S JUDGMENT AGAINST CUBA

Martinez seeks to enforce the Florida Judgment for compensatory damages in the amount of $12,197,102.60 plus post-[471]*471judgment interest.2 The Florida Judgment, recognized by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and given full faith and credit by this Court on December 7, 2007,- arose out of Martinezls civil judgment against Cuba for intentional torture and sexual battery committed against. Martinez by her husband while he lived in the United.States as an agent for Guba. The Court entered a default judgment on behalf of Martinez after Cuba declined to appear or answer, and it issued a Writ of Execution to enable Martinez to enforce the judgment several months later..

Several years elapsed- before Martinez learned, by way of a third party subpoena served on the United- States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), of blocked assets held at Garnishee’s New York branch under the Cuban Asset Control Regulations (“CACRs”). After Garnishee failed to timely respond to a writ of execution issued on April 6, ,2015, Martinez filed a subpoena seeking information about accounts blocked under the CACRs, Pursuant to an agreement with Garnishee, Gar- ■ nishee agreed 1) not to oppose Martinez’s motion for turnover and 2) to respond to two out of three demands for reports and documentation in the subpoena. In turn, Martinez agreed to withdraw the third demand for information, which asked for [redacted]

Garnishee then responded to the subpoena with information about seven blocked accounts totaling $[redacted] (“Account Summary”). .Each account contains funds blocked while passing through Garnishee’s New York branch and held in an interest-bearing account. ■ The Account Summary includes the following information about each account: 1) the originator of the funds transfer; 2) the originating bank; 3) the intermediary bank; 4) the beneficiary bank; and 5) the beneficiary. Two of the accounts, Account One and Account Two, contain no identifying information about the originator of the funds transfer, and Account One also contains no identifying information about the beneficiary bank.

Martinez petitioned the Court, pursuant to Rule 69 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule 69”), for turnover of the funds in all seven accounts under New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (“N.Y.C.P.L.R.”) Section 5225(b). Rule 69 provides that-'the procedure for judgment execution must accord with the procedure of the state where the court is . located. Fed.R.Civ.P. 69(a)(1). Under New York state law, a judgment creditor may bring a special proceeding against a third party in possession of a debtor’s funds. A court must order the third party to pay over the funds “where it' is shown that the. judgment debtor is entitled to the possession of such property.” N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5225(b).

■ The third party here — Garnishee—does not contest the turnover petition. The United States Department of Justice, however, intervened to oppose turnover pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 517, which permits “any- officer of the Department of Justice, — to attend to the interests of the United States in a suit pending in a court of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 517. The United States describes its interest in this case as “ensuring the effectiveness and lawful administration of the [472]*472CACRs,” particularly considering “the Administration’s intent to normalize bilateral relations between .the United States and Cuba.” (Statement of Interest, Dkt. No. 79, at 1-2.) It asserts a further interest in ensuring the correct construction of laws relating to foreign sovereign immunity and enforcement of judgments against the property of foreign states. Courts have noted that blocked assets play an important role in the conduct of United States foreign policy, encouraging deference to views of the executive branch. See Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U.S. 677, 701-02, 124 S.Ct. 2240, 159 L.Ed.2d 1 (2004); Estate of Heiser v. Islamic Rep. of Iran, 885 F.Supp.2d 429, 440-41 (D.D.C.2012).

B. CUBAN ASSET CONTROL REGULATIONS

The blocked assets Martinez seeks to attach are frozen pursuant to the CACRs, codified at 31 C.F.R. Part 515. The CACRs were issued in 1963 pursuant to the Trading with the Enemy Act (“TWEA”), 50 U.S.C. app Section 5(b), which authorizes the executive branch to restrict trade with foreign nations designated as hostile to the United States. The International Emergency Powers Act (“IEEPA”), 50 U.S.C.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Doe v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
899 F.3d 152 (Second Circuit, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
149 F. Supp. 3d 469, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15726, 2016 WL 750302, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martinez-v-republic-of-cuba-nysd-2016.