Strauss v. Lyonnais

175 F. Supp. 3d 3, 2016 WL 1305160
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMarch 31, 2016
Docket06-cv-702 (DLI) (MDG); 07-cv-914 (DLI) (MDG)
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 175 F. Supp. 3d 3 (Strauss v. Lyonnais) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Strauss v. Lyonnais, 175 F. Supp. 3d 3, 2016 WL 1305160 (E.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

DORA L. IRIZARRY, United States District Judge

This is a consolidated action pursuant to the civil liability provision of the Antiter-rorism Act of 1992 (“ATA”), 18 U.S.C. § 2333(a) (“§ 2333(a)”). Plaintiffs, over 200 individuals and estates of people who are deceased (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), seek to recover damages from Defendant Crédit Lyonnais, S.A. (“Defendant”) in connection [10]*10with 19 attacks in Israel and Palestine allegedly perpetrated by Hamas. (See generally Fourth Am. Compl., (“Strauss FAC”), Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 358; Compl. (“Wolf Compl.”), Wolf Dkt. Entry No. I).1 Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that Defendant is civilly liable pursuant to the ATA’s treble damages provision for: (1) aiding and abetting the murder, attempted murder, and serious physical injury of American nationals outside the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332; (2) knowingly providing material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization (“FTO”) in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B; and (3) willfully and unlawfully collecting and transmitting funds with the knowledge that such funds would be used for terrorist purposes in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339C. (Strauss FAC ¶¶ 672-90; Wolf Compl. ¶¶ 407-25.) Defendant moves for dismissal of this action for lack of personal jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or in the alternative, for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56. (See Def.’s Mem. of Law in Supp. of Mot. to Dismiss (“Def.’s Mem”), Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 369.) Plaintiffs oppose. (See Pis.’ Mem. of Law in Opp’n to Mot. to Dismiss (“Pis.’ Opp’n”), Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 371.) For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s motion is denied in its entirety.

BACKGROUND2

I. The Parties

Plaintiffs’ claims arise from 19 terrorist attacks that occurred in Israel and Palestine between approximately 2001 and 2004, which allegedly were perpetrated by Hamas.3 See Strauss v. Credit Lyonnais, S.A. (“Strauss II”), 925 F.Supp.2d 414, 418 (E.D.N.Y.2013). Plaintiffs comprise over 200 United States nationals who were injured in those attacks, the estates of persons killed in those attacks, and/or family members of persons killed or injured in those attacks. Id.

Defendant is a financial institution incorporated and headquartered in France. Id. At the time of the events giving rise to this action, Defendant conducted business in New York through the Crédit Lyonnais Americas New York Branch (Defendant’s “New York Branch”).4 (See Decl. of Joseph Virgilio (“Virgilio Deck”) ¶ 2, Ex. 3 to the [11]*11Decl. of Emily P. Eckstut in Supp. of Defs. Mot. for Summary Judgment, Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 316-1.) According to Defendant, the New York Branch served as the “intermediary bank for U.S. Dollar denominated transfers that were requested by customers of Crédit Lyon-nais in France.” (Id.) Plaintiffs allege that Defendant also maintains an office in Miami, Florida, and is registered with State banking authorities there. (Strauss FAC ¶ 579; Wolf Comply 316.)

Among other customers, Defendant maintained bank accounts in France for the Comité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (“Committee for Palestinian Welfare and Relief’) (“CBSP”), a nonprofit organization registered in France and self-described as providing humanitarian aid to various charitable organizations in the West Bank, Gaza, and surrounding areas. See Strauss II, 925 F.Supp.2d at 418-19. During the time CBSP had accounts with Defendant, it transferred money to certain charitable organizations (each a “Charity,” and collectively the “Charities”) that Plaintiffs contend actually were front organizations for Hamas. See Id. at 419. Plaintiffs allege that Defendant aided Hamas by maintaining CBSP’s accounts and sending money to the Charities on CBSP’s behalf, despite knowing that CBSP supported Hamas. See Id. at 424-25. While the vast majority of transfers Defendant made to the Charities on behalf of CBSP never went through the United States, the parties agree that Defendant executed five such transfers through its New York Branch (the “New York Transfers”), each in response to a specific request by CBSP to send funds in U.S. Dollars. (See Ex. A to the Oct. 16, 2015 Friedman Ltr., Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 393.) The relevant electronic transfer records reflect that each New York Transfer was initiated by Defendant in Paris and routed through its New York Branch, then was directed for the benefit of the respective Charity to a correspondent account maintained by that Charity’s bank either at a New York branch of Arab Bank, PLC, or in one instance, Citibank N.A. (See Exs. A-D to the Feb. 7, 2014 Osen Ltr., Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 362; Ex. B to the Oct. 16, 2015 Osen Ltr., Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 392; Ex. A to the Oct. 16, 2015 Friedman Ltr.)

II. Procedural History

After initially commencing an action against Defendant in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Plaintiffs refiled the Strauss case in this Court in February 2006. The initial complaint, and every amended complaint thereafter, alleged that Defendant is subject both to general personal jurisdiction (“general jurisdiction”) and specific personal jurisdiction (“specific jurisdiction”) in the United States. (See Strauss FAC ¶ 4; see also Wolf Compl. ¶ 4.) Following its voluntary acceptance of service of process in February 2006, (Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 3), Defendant moved for dismissal of the Strauss action pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), declining to contest personal jurisdiction at that time. (See Mot. to Dismiss, Strauss Dkt. Entry No. 10.) The late Honorable Charles P. Sifton, then presiding, denied the motion to dismiss with respect to Plaintiffs’ claims that Defendant provided material support to an FTO and knowingly transmitted funds that financed terrorism, but dismissed Plaintiffs’ aiding and abetting claim, with leave to amend. Strauss v. Crédit Lyonnais, S.A. (“Strauss I ”), 2006 WL 2862704 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 5, 2006). Defendant similarly .accepted service in the Wolf action and thereafter filed a motion to dismiss, which the parties resolved by stipulation without any objection by Defendant as to personal jurisdiction. (See Wolf Dkt. Entry Nos. 6,13, and 31.)

[12]*12Extensive merits discovery between the parties ensued. On October 7, 2011, the Court formally consolidated the Strauss and Wolf actions. Thereafter, Defendant moved for summary judgment dismissing the consolidated action, but again declined to raise a defense of lack of personal jurisdiction. (See Strauss Dkt. Entry No.

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

Related

Henkin v. Qatar Charity
E.D. New York, 2023
Stein v. Town Of Greenburgh
S.D. New York, 2023
PDO Max, Inc. v. Malcmacher
N.D. New York, 2022
Freeman v. HSBC Holdings PLC
E.D. New York, 2019
Strauss v. Crédit Lyonnais, S.A.
379 F. Supp. 3d 148 (E.D. New York, 2019)
Miller v. Arab Bank
372 F. Supp. 3d 33 (E.D. New York, 2019)
Estate of Fox v. Johnson & Johnson
539 S.W.3d 48 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2017)
Cohen v. Facebook, Inc.
252 F. Supp. 3d 140 (E.D. New York, 2017)
Minholz v. Lockheed Martin Corp.
227 F. Supp. 3d 249 (N.D. New York, 2016)
Leibovitch v. Islamic Republic of Iran
188 F. Supp. 3d 734 (N.D. Illinois, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
175 F. Supp. 3d 3, 2016 WL 1305160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/strauss-v-lyonnais-nyed-2016.