Suing the banks for financing terror: a case study of Linde v. Arab Bank
| Date | 07 October 2019 |
| Pages | 858-867 |
| Published date | 07 October 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-07-2018-0044 |
| Author | Joseph Wilfrido Rivera |
| Subject Matter | Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
Suing the banks for financing
terror: a case study of Linde
v. Arab Bank
Joseph Wilfrido Rivera
Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of Florida,
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Abstract
Purpose –Thispaper aims to attempt totie in specific events intothe case of Linde v.Arab Bank to providea
greatercontext. This case is the firstwhere a US court held a bank civilly liable forproviding financial support
to a terrorist organization, but to do so, the court had to decide on several factors, involving as follows: the
applicationof the anti-terrorismact; the sufficiencyof evidence;and the causation of the plaintiffs’damages.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper is a case studyof Linde v. Arab Bank. It also takes an in-
depth view of one particular terroristattack that was alleged to have been financed by Arab Bank PLC. This
paper reviewed similarlegal cases, law review articles on the subject, congressionaland government reports,
congressionaltestimony and open source news involving the case and the terrorist incidentsinvolved.
Findings –The court, in this case, ruled in favor of holding Arab Bank liable for money laundering and
terroristfinancing, which allowed American families tosue the bank for the loss of their loved ones.
Originality/value –This paper focuses on a unique issue involved in money laundering and terrorist
financing. It is not fully a legal paper or a traditionalacademic paper. It is also unique in that case studies are
rare in criminal justiceand criminology journals.
Keywords Terrorism,Banks, Money laundering, Terroristfinance, Anti-terrorismact, Civil litigation
Paper type Case study
Introduction
A young woman, named Ahlam Tamimi –a journalism and communications student at
Birzeit University in Palestine –sat quietly in the back seat of a taxi cab on her way into
Jerusalem. In her possession,sitting patiently next to her on an empty seat was a guitar case
that she and an accomplice had been given the nightbefore. Once her taxi arrived in the city,
another young man, named Izzedine al-Masri, a waiter at a family restaurant in Jenin, met
up with her at a predetermineddestination. Security had recently beenincreased throughout
the city following the assassination of several Hamas leaders. Because of this, Ahlam took
the guitar case with her through the police checkpoint, knowing she was less likely to be
searched because of her gender, and Izzedine passed through the checkpoint on foot. The
two barely spoke to one another after meeting up; however, they occasionally shared a few
words in English –hoping they could be overheard and mistaken for tourists. Ahlam led
Izzedine through the city to a place she had scouted out weeks before. She pointed him
toward an intersection of King George Street and Jaffa Road, one of the busiest places in
downtown Jerusalem. Near the intersection was a Sbarro pizzeria that appeared popular. It
was around lunchtime, and the place was full of people. Mostof them were locals, but some
were tourists –whole families enjoying a seemingly peaceful Thursday afternoon. After
pointing out the place, Ahlamleft Izzedine with the guitar case and then started her journey
back home to Nebi Saleh. Izzedine walked up to the intersection Ahlam had pointed out to
JMLC
22,4
858
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.22 No. 4, 2019
pp. 858-867
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-07-2018-0044
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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