Thousands of American service members and civilians have been killed or wounded in Iraq at the hands of a Shiite terrorist group known as Jaysh al-Mahdi (also known as the Mahdi Army or JAM).

We allege that large multinational pharmaceutical and medical-supply companies funded these terrorists.

Our case presents evidence that these multinational corporations paid bribes to win business from the terrorist-controlled Iraqi Ministry of Health. We allege that the bribes secured large Iraqi government contracts and more profits for these companies. As alleged, these bribes financed Jaysh al-Mahdi terrorist attacks against Americans. The New York Times has reported that the Justice Department is now “investigating claims that drug companies funded terrorism in Iraq” (Gardiner Harris, New York Times, “Justice Dept. Investigating Claims That Drug Companies Funded Terrorism in Iraq,” July 31, 2018.)

The defendants being sued are the parent companies and/or subsidiaries of AstraZeneca plc, General Electric Co., Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., and Roche Holding Ltd. In response to our complaint, the defendants have argued, among other things, that Jaysh al-Mahdi is not a “terrorist organization” and thus that the American families in this case cannot hold the defendants accountable under the Anti-Terrorism Act even if it is true that the defendants paid large bribes to Jaysh al-Mahdi members to win big contracts from the Iraqi Ministry of Health. We strongly disagree with the defendants’ argument that a corporation cannot be held legally responsible under the Anti-Terrorism Act even if it paid millions directly to Jaysh al-Mahdi when the terrorist group was regularly attacking Americans, and this is one of the things we believe our case is about.

You can view the complaint below or download a PDF copy by clicking the link below.