Closing arguments Tuesday in case of Arab-American charity vs. bank
Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press
(Photo: Niraj Warikoo)
Closing arguments are expected Tuesday in the case of an Arab-American charity in Southfield that sued Bank of America after it had closed its accounts.
On Monday in court, attorneys for both sides made their final remarks before closing arguments. An attorney for Bank of America said that the FBI had contacted it about a charity that was in communication with Life for Relief and Development in Southfield, whose accounts the bank later closed.
Representing Bank of America, attorney Jon Harmon made the remarks in court in trying to explain why Bank of America had moved to investigate Life for Relief and Development.
After its accounts were closed, Life for Relief and Development officials filed a federal lawsuit against Bank of America, alleging they were discriminated against because of the Arab ethnicity of the charity’s leaders. Founded by Iraqi Americans, the group distributes aid in the Arab and Muslim worlds, and other places.
The jury trial is being held before Chief Judge Denise Page Hood in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The case is being closely watched by Arab-Americans advocates and civil rights leaders, who say there’s a pattern of Arab Americans being targeted for bank closures.
“This whole thing started because we got a call from the government, the FBI” about a separate charity, said Harmon, the attorney for Bank of America. That charity was Syria Relief, a charity that Bank of America officials said was in communication with Life for Relief and Development. Life officials said the fact they were in touch with Syria Relief or other organizations doesn’t mean their accounts should be closed.
Shereef Akeel, attorney for Life for Relief and Development, said that Bank of America closed the accounts because of anti-Arab bias.
In a news release, charity officials pointed to a deposition from 2014, when an expert witness for Bank of America, Dennis Lormel, indicated that ethnicity may play a role in the bank closures. Lormel was asked why many Arab-Americans are having their accounts closed.
Lormel replied: “I would attribute it to risk,” according to a transcript of the deposition.
Lormel also said he’s seen “on a company basis” how a person’s Arabic name could affect a bank’s decision to label an account as a risk.
The passage of new anti-terrorism laws after the Sept. 11 attacks put added pressure on banks to make sure their accounts are not tied to terrorism, or else they could be held liable. But Arab-American leaders say some banks have been overzealous, resulting in accounts being closed that have nothing to do with terrorism or extremism.
Founded in 1992 as International Relief Association, Life for Relief and Development says it has distributed $300 million in aid in 23 countries and helped with Flint water relief.
The FBI raided the charity’s offices in 2006. The following year, the charity and its then CEO were charged by a grand jury in a sealed indictment with violating Iraqi sanctions laws and with money laundering. But the government dropped the case in 2014 after an agreement was reached between the charity and the government, according to court records.
Life for Relief and Development filed a similar lawsuit against Comerica Bank in 2006 after it closed the charity’s accounts. The case was later dismissed.
Source: www.freep.com