Associated Press Worldstream
September 13, 2006 Wednesday
SoCal heirs of Armenians file lawsuit against German banks
LOS ANGELES
Heirs of Armenians killed nearly a century ago in the Turkish Ottoman
Empire can proceed with a lawsuit against two German banks they claim
owe them millions of dollars.
Federal Judge Margaret M. Morrow’s ruling on Monday allows the
class-action suit to move ahead. No trial date was set.
Deutsche Bank A.G. and Dresdner Bank A.G. were sued in January. Seven
Armenians living in Southern California are seeking unspecified
millions of dollars for assets such as gold, cash and jewelry that
they claim were deposited by thousands of their ancestors at the
banks’ Turkish branches or otherwise looted by the Ottoman Turkish
government and later transferred to European banks.
The suit is the latest bid by Armenians in the United States to
recover assets they believe belonged to some 1.5 million Armenians
who perished in a genocide beginning in 1915.
Litigation brought against New York Life Insurance Co. by Armenian
descendants led to a $20 million settlement; French life insurer AXA
has agreed to pay $17 million to settle a separate class-action
claim. Both lawsuits made similar allegations.