A federal judge in California has confirmed a $5.8 million arbitration award tied to a collapsed satellite broadband project aimed at delivering internet service across sub-Saharan Africa, rejecting an attempt by two telecom executives and a technology partner to overturn the decision.
The ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California backs Hong Kong-based Bronzelink Holdings Ltd., which sought to enforce a costs award issued after international arbitration against Dutch firm STM Atlantic NV and former project executives Emil Youssefzadeh and Umar Javed.
U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton said the challengers failed to meet the high legal threshold required to block enforcement of an arbitral ruling, noting that courts play a limited role once a tribunal has reached a final decision.
“Respondents provide pages of evidence attacking the myriad decisions made by the tribunal, asking that the court carefully review the tribunal’s findings made over the course of a years-long arbitration, and identify issues with those findings,” Judge Staton said. “The court, recognizing its limited role and the strong public policy in favor of international arbitration, cannot do so.”
The dispute stems from a venture formed to launch a communications satellite that would deliver broadband coverage to parts of Equatorial Africa. Bronzelink and its Chinese founder supplied most of the early funding, investing more than $100 million to get the project started.
Plans stalled after internal disagreements. The executives raised concerns about corporate governance and alleged the venture was influenced by the Chinese government, claims Bronzelink denied. The parties took their fight to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre in 2018.
After a 24-day hearing, the arbitration panel rejected the executives’ accusations, including racketeering, fraud and conspiracy claims, and instead found that they had breached the shareholder agreement. The tribunal concluded the allegations about Chinese government control lacked support.
In its findings, the panel said: “the idea … that there was or was likely imminently to be an infringement of the “[People’s Republic of China] prohibition” within the U.S. export control regulations’ was ‘misplaced and unjustified both in fact and law’ and, in fact had been ‘weaponized’ by Youssefzadeh and Javed.”
The panel awarded Bronzelink roughly HK$45 million — about $5.8 million — covering legal fees and arbitration costs. Bronzelink then asked the U.S. court to confirm the award under the Federal Arbitration Act and the New York Convention, which support enforcement of international arbitration decisions.
The executives argued that Bronzelink could not seek confirmation on its own and that exceptions under the treaty applied. Judge Staton rejected those arguments and confirmed the award.
The underlying satellite effort collapsed after export licensing issues surfaced. Contracts with Boeing and SpaceX were terminated, effectively ending the project.
With the court’s order, the arbitration award now carries the same force as a U.S. judgment, allowing Bronzelink to pursue collection.
