Families of 241 U.S. servicemen killed in Beirut bombing sue British bank for 'helping Iran hide compensation cash'

Lawsuit seeks to enforce $2.6bn judgement in compensatory damages against Iran that was awarded to the bombing victims' families in 2007

Civil action comes day after British bank agreed to pay $340m to New York State's financial regulator to settle allegations it concealed Iran-linked transactions worth $250bn



Relatives of the 241 servicemen killed in a 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut have sued Standard Chartered after the British bank 'helped Iran hide $2.6billion in compensation'.



The civil lawsuit, filed yesterday in U.S. district court in Manhattan, is seeking to enforce a 2007 judgement in compensatory damages against Iran that awarded the $2.6billion to the bombing victims' families.

Devastation: Workers sift through the rubble of a U.S. marine barracks in Beirut which collapsed in October 1983 after a truck filled with explosives crashed through a gate and smashed into the building

Devastation: The barracks lie in tatters a month after the bombing. Relatives of those killed have sued Standard Chartered after the British bank 'helped Iran hide $2.6billion in compensation'

Clean-up: Workers use a crane to move the rubble. The plaintiffs in yesterday's lawsuit include representatives of the estates of the 241 U.S. servicemen killed, relatives and heirs and bombing survivors

The plaintiffs include representatives of the estates of the 241 U.S. servicemen killed in the attack in the Lebanese capital, relatives and heirs and bombing survivors.

They claim that after obtaining the 2007 ruling, Standard Chartered conspired with 'Iran and its agents to hide Iran's assets from its judgement creditors'.

Standard Chartered spokeswoman Julie Gibson said the bank's policy is not to discuss pending litigation.

The suit continued: 'Those unlawful actions are part and parcel of Iran's long-standing, determined efforts to evade collection of the judgement and other judgements obtained by the victims of Iran's ongoing terror campaign.'

Standard Chartered bank and its New York branch are identified as the defendants in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages and punitive damages

Cut down in their prime: Marine Corps Sergeant Jeffrey D Young, left, and Corporal Stephen E Spencer



Bombing victims: Corporal James F Silvia, left, and Corporal Charles Dennis Cook



Marine Sergeant Manuel Cox

Standard Chartered bank and its New York branch are identified as the defendants in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages and punitive damages.

The bank on Tuesday agreed to pay $340million to New York State's financial regulator to settle allegations that it concealed Iran-linked transactions worth a total of $250billion.



Yesterday's lawsuit on behalf of the bombing victims said 'those unlawful actions are part and parcel of Iran's long-standing, determined efforts to evade collection of the judgement, and other judgements'.

The case is Deborah Peterson et al v Standard Chartered Bank in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York No. 12-6257.

Funded and armed by Tehran, the militant group Hezbollah began a guerilla war in 1982 to evict Israeli forces from Lebanon.

Shadowy groups linked to Hezbollah launched suicide attacks on Western targets and took Westerners hostage in Beirut.