ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has won a major terror financing case filed by US families against a state-owned multinational commercial bank in a federal court in New York, which government officials on Wednesday described as a “huge success” that will help save the financial institution from bankruptcy and bolster Pakistan's anti-terror funding credentials.
The case against the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) was initiated by families of nine American soldiers who were killed in an attack on a United States military base in Afghanistan.
According to Pakistan’s attorney general Ashtar Ausaf, the American families had accused the bank of transferring money from New York to Swat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that was allegedly used to “prepare a device” to launch the attack on the military base.
“This is a huge success for Pakistan since it will help the country remove its name from the grey list of Financial Action Task Force [FATF],” Ausaf told Arab News.
Pakistan has been on the grey list of Paris-based FATF since June 2018 since its financial system was considered to have vulnerabilities that could have been exploited by criminal elements for money laundering and terror financing.
The international watchdog is currently holding a four-day session in Berlin, Germany, in which Pakistan will build a case for its name to be removed from the grey list.
Sharing the details of the case, the attorney general said a Pakistani citizen Saeed Khan, who resided in the US, transferred funds to his hometown Swat.
Ausaf added this money was then allegedly used in the attack in Afghanistan in which nine US soldiers were killed.
“The American families were seeking billions of dollars in damages from the bank,” he continued, “but the court decided the case in Pakistan’s favor.”
“The judgment is a reflection that Pakistan is a peaceful and peace-loving state that believes in abiding by all international laws and obligations,” he added.
Ausaf also praised the Pakistani legal team for putting in a lot of effort to win the case.
He informed that the country’s legal team had about 15 lawyers from the US and three counsels from the attorney general’s office in Islamabad.
Pakistan’s additional attorney general and head of the international dispute unit Ahmed Irfan informed that the US families had initiated the case against Pakistan on the basis of a report prepared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“If Pakistan had lost the case, we would have needed to pay billions of dollars in damages,” he said while pointing out that this would have meant bankruptcy for the bank.
“The National Bank of Pakistan could not have run its international operations if the federal court had imposed a fine,” he continued.
The US court announced the judgment on Tuesday after hearing the case for nearly two years.
In response to Arab News’ queries, the bank said it had won the Harold Brown Sr. et al vs NBP case after it was vigorously contested by its US attorneys.
It maintained the case falsely alleged that the bank had allowed money transfer which resulted in financing of terrorism against US military personnel in Afghanistan while pointing out this constituted an offense under the US Anti-Terrorism Act.
“The dismissal of the case has shown that the claim against the NBP was without any legal basis,” it added.
The bank said it had historically remained committed to combating financial crimes by complying with local and international laws, regulations and best practices with regard to anti-money laundering and terror financing.
“The NBP shall continue its strong adherence to such laws and regulations,” it said.
