Court throws out 'Hollywood' case, citing jurisdiction

Tue, Aug 16th 2011, 10:27 AM

A U.S court has dismissed a case termed "straight out of a Hollywood script" involving a top law firm, an offshore bank and a $14 million inheritance, citing lack of jurisdiction.  It's the very same argument Bahamas-based companies had made in a recent motion to dismiss the case filed against them by Nevada resident Tonya Day.

"Fourteen million dollars can make people do crazy things," said a judge from the U.S. district court for the District of Columbia.  "Ms. Day may be a helpless victim tilting against powerful and shadowy international banking forces, or, as a Las Vegas resident, may be simply drawing blind, hoping to come up aces.

"But in either case, a federal district court located in the District of Columbia has no role to play in a dispute pitting a Nevada citizen against a Swiss bank and its Bahamas-based subsidiary, manager and law firm, where the prize is $14 million that once purportedly belonged to a Kansas woman.  For this simple reason, the court will dismiss this case."

This case - described earlier by U.S. District Chief Judge Royce Lamberth as "a sordid affair straight out of a Hollywood script" - or at least a second-rate mystery novel - began last August when Day initiated proceedings.  Day alleged that during a visit in the U.S., her mother pointed to a painting in the home marked on the back by a sticker with "mechanically printed" numbers that represented the account number and password.

 She claimed that before her mother could give her past bank statements for the account, she was tragically and unexpectedly killed by a drunk driver.  She then tracked that information to Corner Bank Ltd., the offshore bank located in The Bahamas, and enlisted the services of local law firm Graham, Thompson and Co. Day alleged her now deceased mother had an account in excess of $14 million at Corner Bank, which she has been trying to recover since her mother's death.

She also claimed that she was damaged under the Bahamas Code of Professional Conduct because Graham Thompson reportedly also represented the Bahamian bank in unrelated matters.
Graham, Thompson and Co. - which represented Day for a period of 16 days before recommending her to another law firm - "respectfully" moved to dismiss her claims earlier last month, alleging the case lacked jurisdiction.

Judge Lambert said the question for the Court was whether the defendants in the case could be hauled into the District in a manner consistent with DC law and due process.  For several reasons, the Court found that it could not.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

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