A number of lawsuits filed by the airline mogul Farhad Azima over an alleged smear campaign involving the hiring of hackers to interrupt into his electronic mail accounts have been resolved, bringing to an finish a virtually nine-year authorized saga.
Counsel for Azima and the defendants on Wednesday submitted a joint movement to dismiss with prejudice a case filed beneath the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act within the Southern District of New York. One other lawsuit in North Carolina in opposition to non-public investigator Nicholas Del Rosso, who allegedly hired Indian hackers to dig up filth on Azima, was additionally resolved.
The circumstances, which stretched throughout a number of continents and make clear the shady world of company espionage and mercenary hackers, stemmed from a scheme allegedly orchestrated by an legal professional on the legislation agency Dechert to hack into Azima’s accounts for considered one of its shoppers, a sovereign wealth fund within the United Arab Emirates referred to as the Ras Al Khaimah Funding Authority (RAKIA). The hacked info would then be used in opposition to Azima in court docket.
Dechert and Azima reached a settlement within the case within the Southern District of New York final September, and the legislation agency also agreed to pay Azima $3.8 million in February 2024 to resolve litigation in the UK.
A spokesperson for Dechert and a consultant of Azima declined to say if this week’s dismissals contain further settlement agreements.
“I’m thrilled and really feel vindicated by the result,” Azima mentioned in an announcement.
In response to a request for remark, a Dechert spokesperson pointed to a submitting final yr from the Justice of the Peace choose within the Southern District of New York recommending dismissal of the case, to which “the plaintiffs have filed objections.”
“The defendants and Mr. Azima have now resolved all claims with out admission of legal responsibility,” they mentioned.
Whereas the dismissals convey to an finish litigation introduced by Azima, one of many defendants within the case — the Israeli non-public eye Amit Forlit — stays in authorized crosshairs. Forlit is awaiting extradition from the U.Ok. and faces federal fees within the U.S. over allegedly finishing up cyberattacks for shoppers, together with against climate activists on behalf of the oil large ExxonMobil and the lobbying agency DCI Group.
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