A federal jury found on Monday that Arab Bank was liable for supporting terrorist efforts connected with Hamas. Earlier in July, Coins2Day reported on the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear an appeal by the bank, which is Jordan’s largest financial institution.
The suit was brought by the families of over 300 Americans killed or injured in 24 attacks in the Middle East, including in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. According to a release, the jury was presented with “evidence that Arab Bank transferred more than $30 million dollars to Hamas-controlled institutions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.”
The case has been called the first civil terror finance trial against a financial institution under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The Middle Eastern bank has $46 billion in assets, according to The New York Times. The bank says that any transactions made for terrorist clients were erroneous.
Michael Elsner, an anti-terrorism and human rights attorney who represents plaintiffs in the case called the decision a “historic day for the banking industry.” He added: “This jury’s verdict should be a wake-up call to all financial institutions that they cannot hide behind software systems and internal policies as an excuse to knowingly permit the financing of terrorism.”
The verdict could have a wide-ranging effect on similar legal actions taken on banks and other financial institutions in the future, finding them responsible for the actions of their clients.
The action was first filed in 2004. The trial in Brooklyn’s Federal District Court lasted five weeks.
There will be a separate hearing to determine damages, according to The New York Times.