The recent US appeals court ruling to confiscate Bank Melli’s assets is not a “new issue,” bank’s CEO Abdolnasser Hemmati said, adding that the lender would pursue the matter through its attorney.
“Bank Melli has had transactions with Visa Inc. and MasterCard and had some funds with those companies,” he said. “Due to sanctions imposed at the time, about $15 million of Bank Melli’s assets were blocked until further sanctions hit again in 2007.”
Hemmati said the case against Bank Melli had to do with a lawsuit filed by a family against the bank in 2012, which led to a judge ordering Visa Inc. to block the bank’s money.
But the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Bank Melli’s attempt to dismiss the family’s claims for the money which Hemmati said was unacceptable. He said the bank’s lawyer is challenging the appeals court’s ruling in the US.
“Bank Melli’s assets are in fact people’s deposits and they have no right to use them for their own purposes,” he emphasized. “We will continue to pursue the matter seriously through legal channels.” Hemmati declared that overall, Bank Melli’s frozen assets amount to $21 million.
