Riggs Bank is Sued Over 9/11 Attacks

WASHINGTON -- A lawsuit was filed on behalf of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and their families against Riggs Bank for allegedly contributing to the disaster through negligence, as both the owner and the leaseholder of the World Trade Center site took aim at Saudi Arabia's leaders, its banks and its charities in their own legal complaints, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

As the deadline for filing court claims expired Friday ahead of the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, a spate of lawsuits arrived at the District Court for the Southern District of New York. The filings set up a series of legal struggles that likely will take years to play out at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, with important ramifications in politics, big business and diplomacy.

In addition to the suits against the Saudis, a group of insurers, including Lloyd's of London, filed suit against UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, and AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, as well as airport-security firms and Chicago aerospace concern Boeing Co., alleging that their negligence contributed to the attacks.

The boldest filing was the suit, which seeks class-action status, against Riggs National Corp. and its banking unit. "Riggs' constant failure to comply with banking oversight laws resulted in funds being forwarded from high risk Saudi Embassy accounts at Riggs Bank to at least two September 11 hijackers," the suit, drafted by the torts firm Motley Rice of Mount Pleasant, S.C., alleges.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 9/13/04