One hundred Israeli and other victims of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist attacks have filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the Bank of China for allowing the Palestinian terror groups to use it as a financial conduit.
The Israel Law Center, which is representing the victims, wrote in a statement to the press that it will be seeking both compensatory and punitive damages, since the Bank of China was aware of the end purpose of the Palestinian funds.
According to the charge sheet, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fund raisers in California used a local Bank of China branch to wire collected money to a main bank branch in China. The funds were then forwarded from there to Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
As early as April 2005, senior Israeli defense officials met with Chinese government and central bank officials to request that they prevent the transfers. However, the Bank of China continued to allow the transfers, apparently with government approval.