The Supreme Court on Friday ruled against a request by the Iranian Ministry of Defense for a local bank to return US$15 million, saying that the case has passed the statute of limitations.
The court ruling was over a case in which a company owner surnamed Wu (吳) lobbied the Iranian Ministry of Defense to help broker a purchase of military material from Taiwan.
Iran’s central bank then asked the UK’s Midland Bank PLC (now part of HSBC Bank PLC) to remit US$15 million to a three-person joint account at Chang Hwa Bank’s Tatung branch.
This was to be done with the condition that Chang Hwa Bank would verify the signatures of the trio with the signatures that appear on their passports.
However, when the three tried to claim the money, they were surprised to learn that the money had already been claimed by someone else.
Iran later filed a cross-border lawsuit demanding that Chang Hwa Bank return the money, which started a lengthy litigation process.
The Supreme Court twice returned the case to the Taiwan High Court for retrial.
The High Court ruled in the second retrial last year that although the money was falsely claimed in 1981, Iran did not file a lawsuit until 1997, exceeding the 15-year statute of limitations.
Iran appealed, but the Supreme Court rejected the appeal and maintained the earlier High Court ruling.
The Supreme Court ruling is final.
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