A federal magistrate judge said Friday that al-Qaida should pay more than $9 billion to the insurance companies for people who suffered property or business damage in the 9/11 terror attacks. Southern District Magistrate Judge Frank Maas recommended to Judge George Daniels that the terrorist group, which defaulted in the case of Federal Insurance Co. v. al Qaeda, 03 Civ. 6978, should be held accountable for treble damages, or $9.35 billion.
Magistrate Judge Maas said “the plaintiffs here are clearly entitled to treble damages for any claims that they reasonably paid to insureds who suffered business and property damage as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks.” The damages were awarded under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 18 U.S.C. §2331, as part of multidistrict litigation under the caption 03 MDL 1570.
