Nicholas Reddick: “Iran used MTN to get money to fund terrorists that killed my clients…”

With MTN facing mounting legal challenges because of its links to Iran, BizNews interviews US Attorney Nicholas Reddick whose firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher and partner firm Sparacino have filed five lawsuits on behalf of over 500 American veterans and family members who lost their loved ones in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “…there have been former employees or officials at MTN that have come forward and provided evidence that we believe establishes our allegations that MTN was knowingly supporting terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan…we believe we've obtained evidence and have, again, well-founded allegations that everyone at the highest levels of MTN knew what was going on”. Asked if President Cyril Ramaphosa’s name features in the lawsuits, Reddick says: “Yes, so he does appear in our complaint. You know, he was heavily involved in the leadership at MTN for a time.” As for the US Government’s Grand Jury investigation into MTN, Reddick - a former Department of Justice Prosecutor - says: “Typically when the department opens a grand jury investigation, it's because they believe they have well founded evidence of wrongdoing.” MTN has been asked for comment and offered a Right to Reply interview.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.MTN Group's Response to BizNews.Right of Reply: MTN Group rejects claims of terrorism support, vows to defend US cases.Edited transcript of the interview.Chris Steyn (00:01.558)MTN is facing mounting legal challenges because of its links to Iran. We speak to US Attorney Nicholas Reddick. Welcome, Nicholas.Nick Reddick (00:12.824)Thank you, Chris. Good to be on.Chris Steyn (00:15.472)Please tell us about the cases you are involved in.Nick Reddick (00:20.364)Yeah, so my firm, Wilkie Farr and Gallagher has partnered with Sparacino on a number of cases that are filed in various courts in the United States, including in Washington, DC, the Eastern District of New York. And they are lawsuits on behalf of veterans and family members who lost their loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan during the wars.And the allegations are against MTN and I mean, the complaints are long, you know, they're a couple hundred pages each, but it essentially boils down to allegations that MTN knowingly partnered with an Iranian joint venture called Iran Cell that had ties that were known by MTN to Iran's IRGC and terrorist supporting networks. And it essentially boils down to Iran used MTN to get money to fund terrorists that killed my clients; that they used MTN to source American telecoms equipment in violation of US sanctions; and that also allegedly MTN provided bribes to Iranian officials that they knew had ties to terrorist activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now these are at an early stage in the litigation. Right now, these are allegations. We believe that they're well founded, but they are allegations and we are working our way through the US court system. We had a victory several months ago in one of the cases where the court denied MTN's motion to dismiss the case, Nick Reddick (02:25.408)..and called our allegations a paradigmatic example of support for terrorism in violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act. So we're, again, pushing forward. We can't predict the outcome, but those are the cases. There's five of them that we filed in various districts, and we are looking forward to justice.Chris Steyn (02:48.336)What provision in the Anti-Terrorism Act makes these legal challenges possible now?Nick Reddick (02:55.79)Sure, so Congress amended the Anti-Terrorism Act to expand liability for entities that can be linked to terrorism. And so primarily our allegations are that MTN was knowingly aiding and abetting terrorist activities. So essentially, according to our legal theory, MTN would be liable if they are providing some form of material support, knowing that that support could be used to fund terrorism that injured or killed our clients.Chris Steyn (03:37.582)What compensation would these families be looking at?Nick Reddick (03:41.966)So we, on behalf of our veteran clients, so individuals who were serving their country in Iraq and Afghanistan and were injured by terrorists there, the claims are for pain and suffering, right? So, you know, many of our clients lost limbs, were blinded by the attacks, suffered severe head trauma that have lifelong impacts. So we will prove in court their damages and ask that the court require and the jury require MTN to compensate those veterans for the injuries they sustained.Also, a majority of our clients are family members of service members who were killed. And in the American court system, there is a ability to obtain compensation for intentional infliction of emotional distress, which essentially is the allegation that Iran funded these terrorist groups with help from MTN knowing that that money would be used to attack American service members and also knowing that when you…when you know an American service member is killed or blown up that that has a rippling effect back home with their family - and so there have been a number of courts that have sustained these types of damages you know it's anywhere from 500,000 to several million per plaintiff depending on again the evidence that's presented. But those are the claims essentially that MTN through Iran and the terrorist groups they were partnering with caused our clients severe pain and suffering.Chris Steyn (05:37.072)How many clients do you have, if I may ask?Nick Reddick (05:40.622)We have, so in the lawsuits involving MTN, it's more than 500 American families with, and each family may have several members. So it's quite a significant amount. It is somewhat unique in the American justice system in that these are not brought as class actions. So we represent individual plaintiffs and we'll be presenting evidence for each one of our families.Chris Steyn (06:09.904)Good heavens, are you expecting more to come forward?Nick Reddick (06:14.222)You know, I don't know. We certainly hope so. You know, there are many more family members who were injured by terrorists that were funded by Iran and allegedly MTN. But hard to know.Chris Steyn (06:31.472)So what are the next legal steps that you foresee from your side?Nick Reddick (06:37.134)Sure, so in the case where the court has denied MTN's motion to dismiss our claims, we are looking forward to getting into discovery. And so that would allow us, you know, right now we have made allegations in a complaint that we believe are well founded and are supported by documentary evidence that's been brought forward, for example, by several whistleblowers that have come out and provided information to the public about MTN's alleged wrongdoing.But we would like to get discovery from MTN directly. We believe that they may have documents that establish and prove our allegations. And so we are looking forward to getting into discovery.In the other cases, we are still litigating the motions to dismiss. So MTN in each case either has or will be filing a motion to dismiss. And that process can take several months to work its way through the system and potentially more if there are appeals in each of the other four cases we're currently litigating or will be litigating a motion to dismiss.Chris Steyn (07:55.376)I have ask, did any of your whistleblowers come out of MTN itself?Nick Reddick (08:01.472)Yes, there have been former employees or officials at MTN that have come forward and provided evidence that we believe establishes our allegations that MTN was knowingly supporting terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.Chris Steyn (08:18.948)When you say knowingly, would that have been as high as board level?Nick Reddick (08:28.236)That's what we allege in our complaints. And again, I think we're looking forward to getting more discovery. Obviously, that type of knowledge wouldn't be something that the company would want to be known publicly. And so, you know, we believe we've obtained evidence and have, again, well-founded allegations that everyone at the highest levels of MTN knew what was going on. And we look forward to proving that through discovery and eventually at trial.Chris Steyn (09:01.22)Has our President's, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa's name come up?Nick Reddick (09:07.406)Yes, so he does appear in our complaint. You know, he was heavily involved in the leadership at MTN for a time. Outside of that involvement in MTN, you know, again, we look forward to getting discovery and being able to prove the extent to which anyone at MTN was involved and knew about the support that was being funneled to terrorists.Chris Steyn (09:35.194)What can you tell us about the US government's grand jury investigation into MTN?Nick Reddick (09:42.072)I'm a former prosecutor, so I was at the Department of Justice for several years. Typically when the department opens a grand jury investigation, it's because they believe they have well founded evidence of wrongdoing. The legal standard is probable cause.And so, you know, the fact that the US government has impaneled a grand jury means that they believe there's probable cause that MTN or individuals at MTN may have violated certain criminal statutes in the United States. We're encouraged that the US government is taking this seriously. We look forward to, you know, any evidence that comes out as a result.We would encourage anyone with information that might be relevant to MTN's criminal liability to contact the US government. Outside of that, it's hard to predict. Juries can take weeks or months to come to a conclusion about whether criminal charges are warranted. They happen in secret. So we don't know, we may never know the exact details of what's presented to the grand jury, but it is, I think, a strong signal that the US government at least believes in a minimum there's some well-founded evidence of MTN's wrongdoing.Chris Steyn (11:03.002)Thank you. That was attorney Nicholas Reddick speaking to BizNews about the mounting legal challenges being faced by MTN over its relationship with Iran. Thank you, Nicholas. And I'm Chris Steyn.Nick Reddick (11:16.984)Thank you.

Nicholas Reddick: “Iran used MTN to get money to fund terrorists that killed my clients…”

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