• By
    • andnbsp;
  • NICOLE HONG
iStock

Three banks must hand over money in accounts owned by Sudan to people injured in the 2000 USS Cole attack, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday, a decision that will help terrorism victims satisfy a $315 million award they obtained in court against Sudan.

In court papers, Sudan tried to stop the release of the assets by saying the victims didn’t follow the proper procedures to receive the funds, including an argument that certain documents were mailed to the wrong location.

A three-judge panel at the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected those arguments, orderingandnbsp;http://www.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html؟type=djnandamp;BNP Paribasandnbsp;SAhttp://blogs.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html؟type=djnandamp;BNP.FRandnbsp;-2.05%,andnbsp;http://www.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html؟type=djnandamp;Credit Agricoleandnbsp;SAhttp://blogs.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html؟type=djnandamp;ACA.FRandnbsp;-2.01%andnbsp;and Mashreqbank to turn their Sudanese accounts over to victims. Spokespeople for all three banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/6d1de193-c1c5-40e3-8c6f-85f26c75ecd1/2/doc/14-121_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/6d1de193-c1c5-40e3-8c6f-85f26c75ecd1/2/hilite/Wednesday’s rulingandnbsp;stems from a lawsuit filed against Sudan in 2010 by 15 U.S. soldiers injured in the USS Cole bombing and three of their spouses.

The victims accused the country of providing material support to al Qaeda, who carried out the attack while the ship was docked for refueling in Yemen. The bombing killed 17 U.S. soldiers and wounded 42 others.

A federal district judge in 2012 awarded the victims $314.5 million, which Sudan refused to pay or acknowledge at the time. Sudan did not appear in court to contest the original lawsuit when it was filed. A lawyer representing Sudan did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

In an appellate briefed filed last year, a lawyer for Sudan said the country “reiterated its strong condemnation of the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, an act of terrorism that…caused unimaginable suffering for the sailors’ families.”

Victims have tried to enforce the judgment by going after Sudanese assets housed at global banks, which are frozen in the U.S. because Sudan has been designated by the U.S. government as a state sponsor of terrorism and subject to sanctions.

U.S. law allows terrorism victims to satisfy their judgments by attaching such frozen assets. It’s unclear how much Sudanese money is in the accounts of the three banks affected by Wednesday’s ruling; the numbers have been redacted in court filings. A lawyer for the victims did not have an immediate comment.