Wultz v. Bank of China Ltd.
Wultz v. Bank of China Ltd.
Opinion of the Court
OPINION AND ORDER
I. INTRODUCTION
This suit arises out of the death of Daniel Wultz and the injuries of Yekutiel Wultz, suffered in a 2006 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, Israel. Four members of the Wultz family brought suit against Bank of China (“BOC” or “the Bank”) and other defendants, alleging acts of international terrorism and aiding and abetting international terrorism under the Antiterrorism Act (“ATA”),
II. BACKGROUND
The complaint contains the following factual allegations: On April 17, 2006, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (“PIJ”) carried out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, Israel,
The American-imposed sanctions regime seeks to “prevent PIJ from conducting banking activities and thereby limit its ability to plan, prepare and [] carry out terrorist attacks.”
In April 2005, Israeli security officers told Chinese security and bank officials why the PIJ transfers were being made and described the impact the transfers had on the PIJ’s terrorist activities.
The Wultz family originally filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, against the Islamic Republic of Iran and several of its leaders, the Syrian Arabic Republic and several of its leaders, as well as the Bank.
III. APPLICABLE LAW
“Foreign law, though formerly treated as an issue of fact, is now recognized as an issue of law, to be established by any relevant source, including testimony.”
Plaintiffs allege that the Bank had actual knowledge that the al-Shurafa transfers were facilitating PIJ’s terrorist acts. In the alternative, plaintiffs argue, the Bank had “constructive knowledge” — i.e., it could have and should have made inquiries regarding al-Shurafa’s suspicious transactions, and those inquiries would have given it actual knowledge. Because he was ruling on a motion to dismiss in Wultz I, Chief Judge Lamberth assumed the veracity of plaintiffs’ allegations, including the allegation that BOC actually knew the nature of the al-Shurafa transactions. The Bank argues that “the D.C. Court relied exclusively on the ‘actual knowledge’ allegations because plaintiffs and their Israeli law experts argued for the sufficiency of their Israeli law claims for Negligence, Breach of Statutory Duty, and Vicarious Liability based solely on those ‘actual knowledge’ allegations.”
A. Construction of Israeli Negligence Law
The basic elements of negligence — duty of care, breach, causation, and injury — are the same under New York and Israeli law.
First, a court considers whether there is a notional duty of care of a class of actors in the position of the defendant vis-a-vis a class of persons to which the plaintiff belongs, with respect to a given danger; second, if there is a notional duty of care, the court considers whether there was a duty of care in fact (also called the ‘concrete duty of care’ in Israeli jurisprudence), i.e., whether a duty of care was owed as between the specific defendant and the specific plaintiff in the concrete circumstances of the case.32
As explained by one of the plaintiffs’ tort law experts, “[t]he test regarding both the notional duty of care and the duty of care in fact is one of foreseeability. Two questions must be asked regarding each of these duties: the first concerns ‘technical’ foreseeability, and the second concerns ‘normative’ foreseeability.”
“the freedom of activity of potential defendants; the protection of both the personal integrity and the property of potential plaintiffs; the financial burden that would be imposed upon potential defendants if a duty of care were to be imposed; the possible influence of the court’s decision on social behaviour; the extent to which the risk that resulted in the damage was unusual and unreasonable; the relative ability of the parties to spread the losses; the fear of burdening the courts with excessive litigation; and the fear of groundless or fraudulent claims.”34
There is a presumption that where injury could have been foreseen, the injury also should have been foreseen.
Thus, as Chief Judge Lamberth explained, “the Court will not extrapolate a general rule of Israeli negligence jurisprudence that banks will never be placed under a notional duty in a case with facts such as the ones pled here ... To the
The Bank argues that the Court’s ruling was based only on plaintiffs’ allegation of actual knowledge and did not address whether and when an Israeli court would impose liability on the basis of constructive knowledge. The Bank argues that “[a] bank’s knowledge of questionable, and therefore suspicious, banking transactions does not give rise to a duty of care under Israeli law to protect non-customers from the intentional torts of a bank customer,”
where suspicious, unusual and exceptional circumstances exist to such an extent that the bank cannot remain indifferent to them, cannot turn a blind eye. In such cases, the bank is subject to the obligation of investigating the matter, provided that the means which the bank shall be required, as a “reasonable bank,” to take in these circumstances shall be simple and clear.39
Thus, banks will have a duty of care to protect third parties against the torts of account holders if sufficient suspicious, unusual, and exceptional circumstances exist to warrant a reasonable investigation of the matter by the bank. As Chief Judge Lamberth explained, Ayalon Insurance stands for the proposition that a “ ‘bank is subject to the duty of foreseeing that its negligence would cause damage to a third party, even if said third party is not its customer’ ” but that “ ‘the boundaries of the duty [to third parties] should be extremely limited.’ ”
The core of the Bank’s argument is not that constructive knowledge will never suffice to establish liability, but rather that in order to be liable in a case such as this one, a bank must have constructive knowledge of the fact that al-Shurafa “was providing funds to a terrorist organization in the Middle East, using money wired to his BOC accounts in China.”
Plaintiffs’ expert Professor Boaz Shnoor disagrees, arguing that “it is sufficient if the defendant could have foreseen that his conduct will enable some sort [of] criminal conduct by a third party; there is no requirement that the defendant be able to foresee the specific type of crime ultimately committed or the specific type of harms ultimately caused.”
In Ben Shimon, the Supreme Court held that the operator of a pre-army training club was liable for injuries sustained by the plaintiff after two teenagers broke into the club, stole weapons and ammunition, and several days later used them to shoot the plaintiff in the head.
In Wallace, the Supreme Court held that a bus operator was liable for the injuries sustained by the plaintiff when he was randomly beaten up while waiting in the defendant’s Jerusalem bus station. Wallace, which has been officially translated by the Supreme Court into English, provides a thorough explication of how the intentional criminal actions of third parties impact liability under Israeli tort law and how that liability is broader than under American law. The Court explained that liability exists “in those cases where the criminal act was within the bounds of foreseeable risk.”
As the Israeli Supreme Court put it in Kitan Ltd. v. Weiss, “the foreseeability has to relate to the type of damage that occurred in fact and the manner in which it occurred.”
Plaintiffs’ first tort law expert, Professor Ariel Porat, indicated agreement with this proposition in his 2009 declaration, in which he wrote that “the only question remaining for determining whether a duty of care existed is whether, as a normative matter, the BOC should have foreseen that allowing the PIJ Transfers would enable terrorist attacks of the type that harmed the plaintiffs.”
B. Construction of Israeli Breach of Statutory Duty Law
Chief Judge Lamberth held that plaintiffs had adequately pled that the Bank breached its statutory duties under § 85 of the Defense (Emergency) Regulations, § 4 of the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, and §§ 145 and 148 of the Penal Law.
Defendant’s criminal law expert, Professor Kenneth Mann, agrees with this description of the law, and explains that criminal intent requires either actual awareness (under § 20(a)) or willful blindness (under § 20(c)).
willful blindness is a subjective standard by which the prosecution (or, here, a civil plaintiff) must establish that the defendant actually and rationally suspected that the prohibited (criminal) act might occur. Suspicion judged by the objective standard of what a reasonable person could or should conclude from any given set of facts is insufficient, and cannot serve as a substitute for actual awareness.70
Professor Mann reiterates his opinion, made earlier in support of the Bank’s motion to dismiss, that the constructive knowledge allegations in Sections 78 through 81 of the FAC, even if proved, “would not be sufficient to allow an Israeli court to conclude that the defendant was aware that its account holder al-Shurafa was a representative or an agent of a terrorist organization.”
C. Construction of Israeli Vicarious Liability Law
Plaintiffs’ Sixth Count, which they label “Vicarious Liability,” alleges that the Bank is liable for aiding and abetting alShurafa under § 12 of the Civil Wrongs Ordinance. The parties agree that in a recent decision, the Israeli Supreme Court clarified that actual knowledge is necessary for liability under this section.
IV. CONCLUSION
The Court will apply Israeli law as construed above. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this motion [Docket No. 132].
SO ORDERED.
. See 18 U.S.C. § 2333.
. See First Amended Complaint ("FAC”) ¶¶ 1-2.
. See id. ¶ 3.
. See id.
. See id. ¶ 85.
. See id. ¶ 26.
. Id. ¶ 27.
. See id. ¶¶ 28-30.
. See id. ¶ 31.
. See id. ¶ 63.
. Id. ¶ 64.
. See id. ¶ 68.
. See id. ¶ 69.
. Id.
. See id.
. See id. ¶ 74.
. See id. Vi 74,77.
. See id. ¶ 77.
. See id.
. Id.
. Id. ¶ 80.
. See id.
. See generally FAC.
. See Wultz v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 755 F.Supp.2d 1 (D.D.C. 2010) (“Wultz I’’).
. See Wultz v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 762 F.Supp.2d 18, 20 (D.D.C. 2011).
. See Transcript of 4/04/11 Conference ("4/04/11 Tr.”) at 7, 36.
. See Wultz v. Bank of China, 811 F.Supp.2d 841 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).
. United States v. Peterson, 812 F.2d 486, 490 (9th Cir. 1987). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 44.1 establishes that "[t]he court’s determination [of foreign law] must be treated as a ruling on a question of law.” Except where noted otherwise, my quotations of Israeli case law come from unofficial translations provided by the parties.
. Memorandum of Bank of China Limited in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion Concerning the State of Mind Required for Imposition of Liability Under Israeli Law ("Def. Mem.”) at 4.
. See Declaration of Professor Ariel Porat ("Porat Deck”) in support of Plaintiffs' Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss ¶ 20.
. See Wultz I, 755 F.Supp.2d at 57-58, (citing Civil Wrongs Ordinance (New Version) § 35, 2 LSI (New Version) 14-15 (1972)) ("When a person does some act which in the circumstances a reasonable prudent person would not do, or fails to do some act which in the circumstances such a person would do, ... then such act or failure constitutes carelessness and a person's carelessness as aforesaid in relation to another person to whom he owes a duty in the circumstances not to act as he did constitutes negligence. Any person who causes damage to any person by his negligence commits a civil wrong.”).
. Further Declaration of Peter Gad Naschitz ("Third Naschitz Decl.”) ¶ 2.
. Porat Decl. ¶ 26, (citing to CA 125/80 Vankin v. Local Council of Bet Shemesh, 37(1) PD 113 [1982]).
. Wultz I, 755 F.Supp.2d at 59 (quoting Ariel Porat, Tort Law, in Introduction to the Law of Israel 127, 128-32) (Amos Shapira & Keres C. DeWitt-Arar eds., 1995).
. See Porat Decl. ¶ 27 (quoting CA 243/83 The City of Jerusalem v. Gordon 39(1) PD 113, 129 [1983]).
. Wultz I, 755 F.Supp.2d at 59 (quoting CA 915/91 State of Israel v. Levy 48(3) PD 45, 65-66 [1994]).
. Id. at 60.
. Def. Mem. at 8.
. CA 8068/01 Ayalon Ins. Co. v. The Executor of the Estate of Haya Ofelger, 59(2) PD 349, 372-75 [2004] (quoted in Def. Mem. at 8).
. Wultz I, 755 F.Supp.2d at 61 (quoting Ayalon Insurance, 59(2) PD at 371, 372.)
. CA 5379/95 Sahar Ins. Co. v. Israel Discount Bank, PD 51(4) 464, 477-78 [1997],
. CA 2142/07 Tziring v. Mishkan at 17-18 (not yet published) [2010] (Danziger, J., concurring) (quoted in Declaration of Dr. Boaz Shnoor ("Shnoor Decl.”), in support of plaintiffs, ¶ 6).
. See Def. Mem. at 8 n. 12.
. See id. at 9.
. See Porat Decl. ¶ 49; Reply Declaration of Dr. Boaz Shnoor (“Shnoor Rep. Decl.”) ¶ 21.
. Shnoor Rep. Decl. II22.
. Third Naschitz Decl. ¶ 11.
. Def. Mem. at 10.
. Id. at 11.
. Naschitz Third Decl. ¶ 6 (quoting CA 350/77 Kitan Ltd. v. Weiss, 33(2) PD 785, 802-03 [1979]).
. Id. ¶ 7 (quoting CA 576/81 Ben Shimon v. Barda, 38(3) PD 1, 8-9 [1984]).
. Id.
. Shnoor Reply Decl. ¶ 10.
. CA 576/81 Ben Shimon, 38(3) PD 1.
. CA 3510/99 Wallace v. Egged, 45(5) PD 826 [2001].
. See Shnoor Reply Decl. ¶ 7.
. See Porat Decl. ¶ 61.
. Wallace, 45(5) P.D. 826 at 12 (emphasis added).
. Id. at 14.
. Id. at 15 (emphasis added).
. Kitan Ltd., 33(2) P.D. 785, 802-03 (quoted in Naschitz Third Deck ¶ 6).
. Ben Shimon, 38(3) P.D. 1 at 8-9 (quoted in Naschitz Third Deck ¶ 7).
. J.G. Flemming, The Law of Torts 188 (1983).
. Porat Deck ¶ 33.
. Nor is it correct to say, however, that defendants would only be liable if they had constructive knowledge of the particulars of the event — that Daniel and Yekutiel Wultz would be attacked at a restaurant in Tel Aviv.
. See Wultz I, 755 F.Supp.2d at 67-80.
. Shnoor Decl. ¶ 14.
. Supplemental Declaration of Professor Emanuel Gross ("Gross Decl.’’) ¶ 6. According to Professor Gross’ translation, Section 20 reads:
20.(a) Criminal intent — awareness of the character of the act, of the circumstances that constitute the particulars of the offense, and of the possibility that the act will cause consequences that constitute particulars of the offense and, in respect to the consequences, also one of the following:
(1) Intent — with the goal of causing those results;
(2) Recklessness, which consists of one of the following:
(a) Apathy — by indifference to the possibility that the aforesaid consequences will be caused;
(b) Incaution — by taking an unreasonable risk as to the possibility that the aforesaid consequences will be caused, with the hope of succeeding to prevent them.
(b) For the purposes of intent, foreseeing the occurrence of the consequences as a close to certain possibility is equivalent to intent to cause them.
(c) For the purposes of this section—
(1) a person who suspects the character of the conduct, or the possibility that the circumstances exist, is deemed to have been aware of them, if he refrains from clarifying them.
(2) It is immaterial whether the act was performed in respect to a person or property different from than that [sic] in respect to whom or which it was meant to have been performed.
. See Supplemental Declaration of Kenneth Mann ("Mann Decl.”) ¶ 4.
. Id. ¶ 5 (emphasis removed).
. Reply Declaration of Professor Emanuel Gross ¶ 5 (quoting Mann Decl. ¶ 10).
. Mann Decl. ¶ 11. Similarly, defendants argue that “[plaintiffs’ constructive knowledge allegations cannot support extraterritorial application of Israeli criminal law because the facts alleged in FAC ¶¶ 78-81 cannot establish the requisite actual suspicion by BOC that al-Shurafa engaged in banking transactions with the goal of injuring Israelis or Jews.” Def. Mem. at 22.
. See FAC ¶ 77.
. See Shnoor Decl. ¶ 22 and Naschitz Decl. ¶ 17, discussing CA 5977/07 Hebrew Universty v. Schocken Publ'g House Ltd. [June 12, 2011] (not yet published).
. Shnoor Decl. ¶ 23.
. Naschitz Decl. ¶ 20.
. Def. Mem. at 24.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sheryl WULTZ, individually, as personal representative of the Estate of Daniel Wultz, and as the natural guardian of Abraham Leonard Wultz, Yekutiel Wultz, individually, as personal representative of the Estate of Daniel Wultz, and as the natural guardian of Abraham Leonard Wultz, Amanda Wultz, and Abraham Leonard Wultz, minor, by his next friends and guardians Sheryl Wultz and Yekutiel Wultz v. BANK OF CHINA LIMITED
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published