Pressures on the Deutsche Bank continue
ArmRadio.am
19.01.2007 13:37
American Armenians continue exerting pressure on the Deutsche Bank,
the financial giant of Germany, urging to `end the obstacles of
returning the deposits stolen from Armenians during the Genocide.’
Press Secretary of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
Elizabeth Chuljian told Armenpress that the campaign continues and the
number of letters addressed to Joseph Ackermann increases. Armenians
from all 50 US states are participating in the initiative.
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."
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.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress