Plaintiffs Link Funds to Deadly Attacks
The lawsuit contends profits from the cigarette venture — along with alleged smuggling — were funneled into North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs, benefiting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.
According to the complaint, those weapons were used in attacks on Jan. 8, 2020, against the al-Asad and Erbil airbases in Iraq, and in a 2022 missile strike in Kurdistan. More than 100 U.S. soldiers were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries following the 2020 attack, and more than a dozen people were killed. The 2022 strike injured many others.
The plaintiffs include about 200 service members who suffered injuries such as traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. Also named are family members and the widow and estate of a man killed while aiding refugees during the 2022 Kurdistan attack.
“This case alleges a clear nexus between BAT’s clandestine scheme in North Korea and the weapons used in deadly terrorist attacks,” said Ryan Sparacino of Sparacino PLLC, who represents the plaintiffs.
Raj Parekh, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and now a partner at the firm, said the case seeks accountability for conduct that allegedly enabled attacks on Americans. “The devastating harm caused by terrorist violence does not fade with time — families carry it every day,” he said.
BAT declined to comment on the pending claims. “We do not comment on potential or pending legal claims,” a spokesperson said.
