Banking Ties to Saudi Entities and Alleged Terrorist Funding in US Court Dismissals

834 dant Dallah Al Baraka Group, which is chaired by Defendant Saleh Abdullah Ka- mel. Saudi American Bank is close to the Saudi Bin Laden family, ... appears on its financial transactions” and provides bank- ing services to its Sudanese operations. Ashton Complaint 11 607-8; Burnett Com- plaint 19 144, 146. “In the year 2000, the Saudi American Bank participated in the fundraising cam- paign in Saudi Arabia for collecting dona- tions to the ‘heroes of the Al Quds upris- ing’ (Intifada) by providing a bank account and facilities to receive donations for a committee of charity organizations includ- ing Defendants WAMY, ITRO and Al Har- amain Foundation.” Ashton Complaint 1609; Burnett Complaint 1 147. The essence of Plaintiffs’ claim is that through its relationships with other banks and support of the Saudi Binladin group’s work in Sudan, Saudi American Bank pro- vided material support to al Qaeda. It is not alleged to have done anything to di- rectly support al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, or their terrorist agenda. As the Court has stated before, there can be no bank liability for injuries caused by money rou- tinely passing through the bank. Saudi American Bank is not alleged to have known that anything relating to terrorism was occurring through the services it pro- vided. The Ashton Plaintiffs have dis- missed their claims against Ahmed Nur Ali Jumale, allegedly an associate of Osama bin Laden. To the extent the Burnett Plaintiffs continue their claims against him, his employment at Saudi American Bank from 1979 to 1986 cannot be grounds for relief. Osama bin Laden did not orga- nize al Qaeda until the late 1980s, Saudi American Bank is not alleged to have pro- vided Jumale with a veil of legitimacy or shelter. Cf Burnett I, 274 F.Supp.2d at 104 (finding Al Haramain’s employment of al Qaeda operative during height of al 349 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT, 2d SERIES Qaeda activity a sufficient allegation of providing material support). The com- plaints have provided Saudi American Bank with no notice of Plaintiffs’ claims or grounds for relief. Accordingly, Saudi American Bank’s motions to dismiss the Ashton and Burnett complaints are grant- ed in their entirety. 3. Arab Bank [97] The Federal Plaintiffs claim Arab Bank is a financial institution headquar- tered in Egypt with branch offices throughout the world, including New York. Federal Complaint 1357. Arab Bank claims it is actually a Jordanian bank headquartered in Amman, Jordan. Arab Bank allegedly has “long provided finan- cial services and other forms of material support to terrorist organizations, includ- ing al Qaeda.” Federal Complaint 1358. Further, these Plaintiffs allege that the September 11 attacks were a “direct, in- tended and foreseeable product of Arab Bank’s participation in al Qaeda’s jihadist campaign.” Jd. 11364, 363. These claims are based on the allegation that Arab Bank has “long known that accounts it main- tained were being used to solicit and trans- fer funds to terrorist organizations [and despite this knowledge] Arab Bank has continued to maintain those accounts.” Id. 1362. Specifically, the Federal Plaintiffs claim Arab Bank accounts have been used for al Qaeda money transfers throughout the world and that Arab Bank maintains accounts for Defendant charities including IIRO, MWL, WAMY, BIF, Blessed Relief (Muwaffaq) Foundation, and Al Haramain. Id. 9359, 360. Israeli officials allegedly have seized funds associated with several Arab Bank accounts maintained on behalf of known fronts for Hamas and identified by Arab Bank employees, “confirming the bank’s specific knowledge that accounts it maintained were being used to sponsor terrorist activity.” Id. 1361. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017899