The beginning facts behind the settlement announced Monday between the U.S. Department of Justice and BNP Paribas takes a step away from the financial industry. Instead, the story stems back to a bus bombing two decades ago, and a father’s determination for justice, according to an article in The New York Times.
The trail that ultimately led to BNP began in 2006, when the Manhattan district attorney’s office came upon a lawsuit filed by the father, who blamed Iran for financing the Gaza bus bombing that killed his 20-year-old daughter. Buried in the court filings, prosecutors found a stunning accusation: a charity that owned a gleaming office tower on Fifth Avenue was actually a “front” for the Iranian government, a claim that the prosecutors later verified.
