Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email [email protected]
Internet
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 6, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ARMENIAN AMERICANS CALL ON DEUTSCHE BANK
TO RETURN STOLEN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE-ERA ASSETS
— ANCA Launches WebFax Letter-writing Campaign
to the Firm’s Chairman, Dr. Josef Ackermann
WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian Americans from all fifty states are calling on
Deutsche Bank, the Germany-based financial giant, to stop obstructing the
return
of stolen Armenian Genocide-era assets, reported the Armenian National
Committee
of America (ANCA).
The grassroots campaign is fueled by citizens throughout the country
troubled
that Deutsche Bank continues to block the rightful return of assets
belonging to
heirs of Armenians killed in the Armenian Genocide, despite the good faith
efforts toward a settlement by lawyers for a group of Armenian Americans who
have filed a class action lawsuit against the firm.
Taking advantage of the free ANCA WebFax feature on the ANCA website –
– community activists are sending letters directly to Dr. Josef
Ackermann, the Chairman of Deutsche Bank. The WebFax letter allows
concerned
individuals to call on Dr. Ackermann to "personally ensure that Deutsche
Bank
fully lives up to its legal, financial, and moral obligations by returning
all
assets your firm unlawfully holds from the victims and survivors of the
Armenian
Genocide of 1915 to 1923." The letter goes on to criticize the firm’s
current
conduct, noting that, "compounding your firm’s guilt in this matter has been
its
illegal and immoral conduct in the years following the Armenian Genocide.
Rather than taking steps to return stolen property, Deutsche Bank actively
avoided meeting its responsibilities through acts of evasion and
concealment, as
well as other measures intended to prevent these funds from being recovered
by
survivors and the heirs of victims. Now, having profited from the use of
these
funds over the course of the last nine decades, your firm is today actively
obstructing efforts to secure their rightful return."
Individuals can send a free ANCA WebFax to Deutsche Bank by visiting:
rtid=9194726&type=CU
Deutsche Bank has more than $1.32 trillion in assets and over 67,000
employees
operating in nearly 1,600 branches across 73 countries. Experts estimate
that
Deutsche Bank illegally withheld more than $20,000,000, in World War I-era
dollars, from Armenian victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide. A
class
action lawsuit against the firm to secure the return of these assets has
been
filed by attorneys Mark Geragos, Brian Kabatack, and Vartkes Yeghiayan. The
lawsuit states that the Deutsche Bank systematically thwarted the recovery
of
millions of dollars in assets deposited by Armenians prior to and during the
Armenian Genocide. In addition, the lawsuit seeks damages for Armenian
assets
forcibly taken by the Ottoman Turkish government during the Armenian
Genocide.
The same three lawyers recently settled similar lawsuits against New York
Life
and AXA for a total of $37.5 million for the wrongful withholding of
insurance
policy proceeds held from the Armenian Genocide era.
Earlier this month the ANCA’s European affiliate, the European Armenian
Federation for Justice and Democracy, launched a continent-wide campaign to
urge
Deutsche Bank to honor its commitments. In January of 2006, the
ANCA-Western
Region helped organize a rally in support of a press conference outside the
Los
Angeles offices of Deutsche Bank announcing the filing of the class action
lawsuit against both bank. Speaking at the rally, ANCA Board member Raffi
Hamparian called on Deutsche Bank "to return the money it eagerly accepted
but
then so heartlessly withheld from the victims and survivors of the Armenian
Genocide. Withheld – from the wounded, the destitute and desperate –
exactly
when they needed access to these funds the most. Today, we ask simply for
what
is owed, what has been owed for nearly a century. We know that the time has
long-since passed when Deutsche Bank can make its depositors whole. That
time
has passed. No one today can wipe away the blood, the tears, the sweat of
endless desert marches, mass executions, and starvations. But we can,
today,
secure a measure of justice, and that is why we are here. Justice: A small
measure today – from a bank. A greater measure tomorrow – from the Turkish
government. The full measure – soon – of the justice owed the Armenian
nation."
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