Visa & Mastercard Sued Using Libertad Act For Processing Payments For Property In Cuba
/ROBERT M. GLEN V. VISA, INC., VISA U.S.A., INC., VISA INTERNATIONAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION, MASTERCARD INCORPORATED, MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED [1:19-cv-01870; Delaware District]
Reid Collins & Tsai LLP (plaintiff)
Andrews & Springer LLC (plaintiff)
Sidley Austin LLP (defendant- Mastercard)
Akerman (defendant- Visa)
Ballard Shahr LLP (defendant- Visa)
Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor (defendant- Mastercard)
Excerpts:
Under the Act, a person is liable for trafficking in confiscated property if that person, among other things, knowingly “engages in a commercial activity using or otherwise benefiting from confiscated property,” or knowingly “participates in, or profits from, trafficking . . . by another person.”
7. Defendants operate payment processing networks that facilitate credit card transactions between cardholders, merchants, and banks.
8. Defendants offer their network services to merchants in Cuba, including the four beachfront resorts on the properties confiscated from Glen’s family: the Iberostar Tainos, the Meliá Las Antillas, the Blau Varadero, and the Starfish Varadero.
9. By affirmatively permitting these hotels to collect payment from their guests through Visa- or Mastercard-branded credit card (and by earning revenue in connection with each such swipe), Defendants are engaging in commercial activity that uses or otherwise benefits from Glen’s confiscated property. Defendants are also participating in, and profiting from, trafficking committed by the hotels themselves.
10. Because Defendants have trafficked in confiscated property in violation of the Act, they are subject to Glen’s private action for civil damages under Title III, measured as the greater of the current fair market value of the property, or the value of the property at the time of confiscation plus interest.
11. Glen accordingly brings this statutory action to vindicate his claim to confiscated property and to obtain the compensation that he is rightfully entitled to under the Act.
