American Hizbollah Victims Sue Swiss Bank UBS

As Woodward and Bernstein once said "Follow the Money, " or in this case stop the money! United States citizens who have been victimized by Iranian-funded terrorist groups such as Hezbollah are suing the Swiss Bank UBS. The Swiss Bank has already paid a fine of 100 Million dollars to the Federal Reserve of the United State for illegally transferring between $4 to $5 billion to states designated by the U.S. as sponsors of terrorism between 1996 and 2004. The Suit is charging the UBS knew exactly what it was doing when it transferred money to places like Iran, Syria and Cuba. The victims are saying that if the bank didn't transfer American dollars to Tehran, the Islamic regime would not have been able to support terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah because American Dollars are the favored currency in the illegal weapons trade:

VICTIMS OF HIZBOLLAH MISSILE ATTACKS BRING HISTORIC CIVIL
ACTION AGAINST UBS IN NEW YORK FEDERAL COURT

A group of American victims of Iranian sponsored terror have filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the Southern District against the Swiss mega-bank, UBS AG. The plaintiffs, all of whom had family members injured or killed in Iranian-backed terror attacks, allege that UBS' unlawful eight year-long provision of financial services to the Islamic Republic at the time Iran was providing material support to terrorist organizations renders the bank liable for the harm that has been inflicted upon them and their families.

Included amongst the plaintiffs are three families who were physically and emotionally harmed by the Katyusha rockets launched by Hizbollah into Israeli cities during the 2006 war with Lebanon. This is the first civil action brought by American victims of Hizbollah's katyusha rocket attacks.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Robert Tolchin of New York City and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of Tel Aviv, Israel.

The allegations against UBS center around the Swiss bank's involvement in transferring dollars to outlaw regimes such as Iran, Libya and Cuba. The UBS operation was uncovered by American soldiers in Iraq in 2003 who discovered brand new dollars, still wrapped in Federal Reserve casings behind a wall in Saddam Huessein's palace. A Federal Reserve investigation of the currency determined that UBS was responsible for illegally transferring between $4 to $5 billion to states designated by the U.S. as sponsors of terrorism between 1996 and 2004.

At first UBS sought to deny the extent of the money transfers it had provided to Iran and others, but confronted with overwhelming evidence, eventually was compelled to admit the scope of its criminal activities. UBS, one of world's wealthiest banks, was fined a $100 millions by the Federal Reserve for its conduct.

The plaintiffs allege that without the provision of American dollars to Tehran, the Islamic regime would not have been able to support terrorist groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah. The terrorist groups need the easily convertible and readily accepted American dollars to purchase weapons (such as Katyushas) and explosives as well as to facilitate their terrorist training programs and to fund suicide bombings. The lawsuit charges UBS, which has a branch in New York, with aiding and abetting Iran's support of terror by illegally providing Tehran the dollars it needed to pass along to the terrorist groups for their purchases and attacks. .

"UBS knew full well that the cash dollars it was providing to a state sponsor

of terrorism such as Iran would be used to cause and facilitate terrorist attacks
by Iranian-sponsored terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hizbollah and PIJ," said Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner. The plaintiffs are demanding that UBS compensate them for the injuries they suffered as a result of Iranian terror attacks in Israel.