Class action against AWB in US dismissed

(AAP) Agribusiness AWB Ltd said on Wednesday all three class actions against the company in the United States arising from the United Nations oil-for-food kickbacks scandal had now been dismissed.

The legal overhang in the US ended as the final and third pending class action was
dismissed this week.
The action involved Karim and others, who were allegedly representing residents of
the three northern governorates of Iraq, and was filed against AWB Ltd, AWB (USA)
Ltd, BNP Paribas and Commodity Specialist Company (CSC).
"AWB Ltd has been advised that the class action filed in the US District Court for
the Southern District of New York by Karim and others ... has been dismissed by the
court," AWB said in a statement.
The Karim class action alleged that by reason of AWB's conduct during the
oil-for-food program, AWB had depleted the UN oil-for-food escrow account, thereby
unlawfully depriving the plaintiffs of the humanitarian benefits which those funds
would have purchased for them.
It also alleged that AWB, BNP Paribas and CSC engaged in an illegal conspiracy.
AWB and its co-defendants had filed motions to dismiss the class action, and the
motions had been granted by the court.
AWB had previously said it thought the case was ill-conceived.
The Australian government stripped AWB of its wheat marketing monopoly in 2006 for
paying $300 million in bribes to the regime of Saddam Hussein from 1999 to 2003.
Last week, a class action filed against AWB on behalf of two Iraqi widows in the US
was dismissed.
The two widows, Saadya Mastafa and Kafia Ismali, filed the claim on behalf of a
class of Iraqi citizens comprising victims of crimes perpetrated by the Saddam
Hussein regime from 1996 to 2003.
The action, which also named BNP Paribas as a defendant, alleged that the defendants
contributed to the injuries and damages sustained by the plaintiffs by giving
substantial assistance to the Saddam regime.
In March, a class action filed on behalf of US wheat farmers against AWB was
dismissed by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The US farmers alleged AWB engaged in conduct in relation to the oil-for-food
program that had the effect of achieving and maintaining a monopoly on wheat sold to
Iraq, thereby blocking US-grown wheat from access to that market.
The farmers alleged this had resulted in a fall in the prices that US growers could
sell their wheat in the US, and that this conduct violated US racketeering and
anti-trust laws.
AWB said on Wednesday that an Iraqi government civil lawsuit filed in the US
District Court against 93 companies that participated in the UN oil-for-food
program, including AWB, had not been served on the company.
That lawsuit alleges violations of the US Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organisations Act by companies including, AWB, BNP Paribas, Chevron Corp,
Daimler-Chrysler, Saewoo International Corp, Eastman Kodak and GlaxoSmithKline.
The complaint, filed by the Iraqi government on behalf of the Iraqi people, said the
corruption of the oil-for-food program had been described as the largest financial
fraud in human history.
A group of AWB's Australian-based shareholders has also filed a civil action in the
Federal Court of Australia claiming damages for alleged non-disclosure of material
information.
AWB shares were 22 cents or 7.91 per cent higher at $3.00 on Wednesday.