Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Must Give Iran Funds to U.S. Families

By Joel Rosenblatt - Jan 29, 2013 9:22 PM ET

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. was ordered to transfer funds belonging to Iran-based entities to the families of 17 U.S. Air Force service members killed in a 1996 attack in Saudi Arabia.

U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel in Manhattan ordered the transfer today. The assets at issue total about $357,000 and Bank of Tokyo said it doesn’t oppose releasing them, according to the filing.

The families sought the judgment against Iran after a federal court in Washington ruled Iran provided support for the attacks and entered judgment against Iran for damages of $336,658,063, according to today’s ruling.

The case is Estate of Michael Heiser, 11-cv-1601, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco atjrosenblatt@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net