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STRAUSS V. CREDIT LYONNAIS

On August 19, 2003, Moses Strauss was permanently injured when a Hamas suicide bomber detonated on the bus that Moses was riding as a passenger.

 

Moses and his family initiated a suit in the District Court of New Jersey on September 29, 2005.

In July 2006, 30 families were joined as plaintiffs and sought remedy under the Antiterrorism Act for injuries sustained and losses caused by Hamas affiliates from 2001-2003.

The plaintiffs seek to show that Credit Lyonnais provided banking services and maintaining accounts for CBSP (a French committee for charity and aid to Palestinians). CBSP, which provided money to sub-organizations of Hamas posing as charity organizations, was designated a primary fundraiser for Hamas by the US Treasury Department in 1998.

In 2006, the Court held that the victims had adequately alleged that the bank’s clients were terror-affiliated organizations, noting that even if the bank acted without intention, it still knew or should have known that the funds were going to support terrorist activities. Most recently, the Court held in 2013 that the majority of the Strauss claims had enough supporting evidence in order for the case to proceed to a jury trial and could not be dismissed.

The Court also allowed the inclusion of expert testimony, which showed the control of Hamas over the “charity” organizations, to be submitted in the case.