International banks have admitted to helping Iran finance terrorist attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, leading to roadside bomb injuries for U.S. servicemembers. Victims and their families may be able to hold these banks responsible through a lawsuit filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

This law allows servicemembers, veterans and their loved ones to receive compensation for roadside bomb injuries that they may have suffered through international terrorist acts.

The Act says: “Any nation of the United States injured in his or her person, property, or business by reason of an action of international terrorism, or his or her estate, survivors, or heirs, may sue therefor in any appropriate district court of the United States and shall recover threefold the damages he or she sustains and the cost of the suit, including attorney’s fees.”

Under the Act, it’s a crime for any organization or party to support international terrorism by providing resources and material support.

Foreign banks have been held responsible under the Act for supporting Iran’s role in conducting acts of terrorism during the war in Iraq. Some of the banks whom have pleaded guilty and settled claims under the Act have included: BNO Paribas of France, Germany’s Commerzbank, and HSBC of the United Kingdom.

It was discovered several years ago that several of these aforementioned banks and other financial institutions allegedly conspired to facilitate financial transactions for Iran. The money was allegedly used to devise several terrorist attacks in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Overview: Roadside Bomb Injuries

In an attempt to hide money transacted from Iran, several banks set up intricate payment structures to disguise the route of money being sent. Iran used such payments to purchase weapons known as EFPs (Explosively Formed Penetrators) used against soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Some consider EFPs the most lethal weapon that faced American soldiers in Iraq. EFPs can be easily camouflaged, particularly as rocks or trash and hidden extremely easily. The device can also travel 100 yards or more, still intact, and could pierce armor. EFPs manufactured in Iran are made out of copper and steel. This allows them to pierce through the toughest of armored vehicles. Report states that during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn, more than 25 percent of U.S. casualties were the result of Iranian EFPs.

It was through global banks that allowed Iran to receive the money to help aid and supply terrorists with EFPs. Not only did these transactions allow Iran to process billions of dollars but banks in turn had to pay billions in fines to the U.S. as well.

In fact, after having been discovered for setting up these elaborate payment structures, BNP Paribas Bank paid $9 billion for such violations. The fines were paid with a promise that the banks would not be criminally prosecuted by the U.S. Banks involved in transactions linked to Iran include Barclay’s PLC, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC Holding Group PLC, Commerzbank A.G., Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas S.A.

If you or a loved one was injured or killed by an IED or EFP while fighting in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, legal recourse is available. Get help now by filling out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.

The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or anti-terrorist class action lawsuit is best for you. (In general, anti-terrorist lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.) After you fill out the form, the attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or class action lawsuit is best for you. Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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