US Military Personnel Sue British American Tobacco Over Alleged North Korea Funding for Terrorism
Hundreds of US military personnel and their families have filed a lawsuit against British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the world's largest tobacco companies, alleging that the company helped North Korea fund terrorism. The suit claims that BAT spent years secretly partnering with North Korea to manufacture cigarettes in the country, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue used to advance North Korea's weapons program.
The lawsuit comes as a deferred prosecution agreement and plea guilty from BAT and its subsidiary, who agreed to pay $629 million in fines for conspiring to violate sanctions and bank fraud. The company admitted that it fell short of the highest standards expected of it and acknowledged the misconduct arising from historical business activities.
According to the complaint, BAT's joint venture with a North Korean company provided about $418 million in banking transactions, "generating revenue used to advance North Korea's weapons program." The US Justice Department said that the company secretly continued its operation through a subsidiary after claiming it was ending business in North Korea.
The plaintiffs argue that BAT should be liable for damages because North Korea used profits from the cigarette venture and cigarette smuggling to fund the development of weapons of mass destruction for Iran's revolutionary guard and Hezbollah. The complaint says those weapons were used in attacks on US targets, including a deadly missile attack in Kurdistan that left over a dozen people dead.
The lawsuit alleges that BAT knew its money was funding terrorism and continued the venture anyway, citing numerous public statements and reports. The company's in-house personnel closely monitored US government and media reports, and its own corporate filings confirm it was acutely aware of the terrorist finance risks presented by the illicit cigarette trade.
The civil lawsuit seeks compensation under a federal law that allows victims of terrorist attacks to not only sue the organization allegedly responsible for damages but also any third parties said to have aided and abetted or conspired to assist in an act of terrorism.
Hundreds of US military personnel and their families have filed a lawsuit against British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the world's largest tobacco companies, alleging that the company helped North Korea fund terrorism. The suit claims that BAT spent years secretly partnering with North Korea to manufacture cigarettes in the country, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue used to advance North Korea's weapons program.
The lawsuit comes as a deferred prosecution agreement and plea guilty from BAT and its subsidiary, who agreed to pay $629 million in fines for conspiring to violate sanctions and bank fraud. The company admitted that it fell short of the highest standards expected of it and acknowledged the misconduct arising from historical business activities.
According to the complaint, BAT's joint venture with a North Korean company provided about $418 million in banking transactions, "generating revenue used to advance North Korea's weapons program." The US Justice Department said that the company secretly continued its operation through a subsidiary after claiming it was ending business in North Korea.
The plaintiffs argue that BAT should be liable for damages because North Korea used profits from the cigarette venture and cigarette smuggling to fund the development of weapons of mass destruction for Iran's revolutionary guard and Hezbollah. The complaint says those weapons were used in attacks on US targets, including a deadly missile attack in Kurdistan that left over a dozen people dead.
The lawsuit alleges that BAT knew its money was funding terrorism and continued the venture anyway, citing numerous public statements and reports. The company's in-house personnel closely monitored US government and media reports, and its own corporate filings confirm it was acutely aware of the terrorist finance risks presented by the illicit cigarette trade.
The civil lawsuit seeks compensation under a federal law that allows victims of terrorist attacks to not only sue the organization allegedly responsible for damages but also any third parties said to have aided and abetted or conspired to assist in an act of terrorism.
lol never knew bat was involved in all this drama, sounds super shady. like how can a company just keep funding terrorism on the side? 
and isn't it weird that bat knew about the terrorist finance risks but still kept going with it? 
i mean, i get that they were making money and stuff, but come on... 
what's next? are they gonna sue gamers for playing online games that fund scammers too? 
they're claiming bat helped north korea fund terrorism through some shady cigarette deal... it's wild that the company knew exactly what was going on but just kept doing it anyway 
i mean, it's one thing to make a profit from cigarettes, but not at the expense of global security. that being said, $629 million in fines is still pretty steep 
but honestly, this whole situation just feels like more of the same... corporations doing whatever they want with no real consequences 
I dont think its fair that BAT gets off scot free with just $629 million fine, they need to pay way more considering all the lives lost due to their negligence 
. The lawsuit is a good start but we should be pushing for much harsher penalties 
. And what about the families of those who lost loved ones in the attacks, they deserve justice too 
. We need to hold these big corporations accountable for their actions and make them pay for their mistakes 
.
And what's with the whole "third parties" thing... are they really going to try to find some way to hold the cigarette companies responsible for funding terrorism in Iran? 
It just seems like a bunch of different balls in the air, you know? 
Can we even trust these lawsuit people to do the right thing? 
BAT's got a lot of 'splainin' to do here... 
. Like, come on, $629 million in fines? That's peanuts compared to what BAT makes in like 2 seconds. And the fact that they admitted to "falling short of the highest standards" is just a fancy way of saying they made a mistake, lol 
.
this is soooo bad for bat!!! i mean i know they messed up big time, but hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from cigarettes? that's like a whole lot of money!!! 
. I mean, who wouldn't want to be sued by a bunch of angry military personnel? And BAT's like "oh no, we made some bad business decisions"... Boo hoo 
.
But the US military personnel aren't buying it! They're saying that BAT knew exactly what it was getting into, and it's not okay to fund terrorism 
. The fact that BAT continued to operate despite knowing its money was funding terrorism is just crazy! 
what kind of partnership does that even make sense? somebodys gotta get to the bottom of this