This is the case of Azima v. Insight Analysis And Research LLC et al, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Farhad Azima, is an American airline operator with a colorful past. He is the founder of Global International Airways, a charter, and cargo carrier company, and in the 1980s was alleged to have had links to the Iran-Contra Affair.
The airline tycoon has an ongoing case pending in the U.K., that originates from a 2016 case, accusing Azima of defrauding the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority, a state-owned investment fund, out of $2.6 million dollars, according to court records.
In the U.K. case, Azima claims that he was the victim of a hack that was devised by an attorney based in London, in order to support Sheikh Saud bin-Saqr Al-Qasimi, the current ruler of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates.
In March 2022, Azima, who is a U.S. citizen, filed a “1782 petition” in the Southern District of Florida. Section 1782 of Title 28 of the United States Code, allows an “interested party” to a foreign proceeding, to seek US-style discovery from a person or entity located in the United States.
Azima is seeking the accounting records of Insight Analysis and Research LLC and SDC-Gadot LLC, which he claims show that Insight and SDC-Gadot were compensated to unlawfully acquire information that established the source of the U.K. allegations against him.
Attorney for Analysis and Research LLC and SDC, are arguing against the release of the records, calling Azima’s motion a “fishing expedition” intended to develop a racketeering case in New York, rather than seek evidence to be used in his U.K. case dealing mainly with the alleged hacking of Azima’s electronic devices.
The corporations argued that Azima’s petition was a “ruse” designed as a backdoor method to circumvent discovery rules relating to the racketeering case Azima filed in the Southern District of New York in October 2022.
Analysis and Research LLC and SDC, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Becerra of the Southern District of Florida, that they had no choice but to petition the court to issue sanctions against the airline mogul because his 1782 petition was so overbroad and burdensome that it was clear on its face that it was made in bad faith. The two Miami-based corporations are also seeking attorney fees for responding to Azima’s discovery petition.
Last week, Judge Becerra denied Analysis and Research LLC and SDC-Gadot LLC’s request for sanctions, saying “I hear you on 1782, but that’s the way Congress has set this up,” Judge Becerra said. “You’re totally right, it’s a one-way street. You have to sit here and respond to discovery.”
