Motorola Inc. said the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a $2.13 billion judgment against the Uzan family in a long-running dispute between the company and the Turkish family that included charges of fraud.
The Supreme Court decision denied the Uzans’ petition for a writ of certiorari, and Motorola said the action ends all of the family’s rights to further appeal. The original judgment was made by Judge Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in July 2003.
The case involved loans made by Motorola to the Turkish carrier Telsim, which was owned by the Uzans. The court found the Uzans induced Motorola to make the loans, stole the collateral given to Motorola to secure the loans, filed false criminal charges against executives at Motorola and stole at least $1 billion from Telsim for personal use, said Motorola.
“From the outset of this case, the Uzans have raised one specious argument after another to divert attention from their massive fraud,” said Peter Lawson, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Motorola. “The highest court of the United States has followed the lower courts in rejecting the after-the-fact contrivances of the Uzans. We will continue in our efforts to recover Motorola’s stolen assets from the Uzans.”
Nokia Corp. also is involved in a lawsuit with the Uzans over loans made to Telsim.
