BB and Others v Al-Khayyat and Others — Claim Form Issued in England and Wales High Court (QB-2019-002712)

On July 30, 2019, a claim form was issued in the Queen’s Bench Division of the England and Wales High Court, case number QB-2019-002712, naming Moutaz Al-Khayyat, Ramez Al-Khayyat, and Doha Bank Limited as defendants in a civil terrorism-financing action. On subsequent appeal and strike-out motion practice, the case was styled BB and Others v Doha Bank Ltd ([2023] EWCA Civ 253).

Jurisdictional Framing

This is a United Kingdom civil proceeding under English terrorism-financing tort liability, not a U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act (18 U.S.C. § 2333) case. Earlier cascade-research entries that described the 2019 matter as “U.S. federal ATA litigation” reflected a source-level error; the primary court-record citations confirm the UK venue. See doha-bank for the full jurisdictional correction.

Parties

Claimants: Eight anonymous Syrian citizens granted court-ordered anonymity, residing in Europe at the time of filing. A parallel subsequent filing added approximately 330 additional anonymous Syrian claimants.

Defendants:

1. Moutaz Al-Khayyat — first defendant
2. Ramez Al-Khayyat — second defendant
3. Doha Bank Ltd (Qatar-incorporated) — third defendant

Mohamad Al-Khayyat, the third brother in the Power International Holding ownership architecture, was not named in the initial filing.

Allegations (Unadjudicated on the Merits)

The claimants alleged liability under Syrian law for damages caused by the al-Nusra Front (a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization and al-Qaeda affiliate):

• The Al-Khayyat brothers financed and/or assisted in financing al-Nusra Front through accounts held by them or associated entities at Doha Bank
• Funds were routed from Doha-Bank-held accounts to accounts in Turkey and Lebanon, withdrawn as cash, and transported across the Syrian border for delivery to al-Nusra fighters
• Doha Bank facilitated the transactions with actual or constructive knowledge
• The al-Nusra Front operations funded in this manner caused the claimants’ severe physical and psychiatric injuries, property destruction, loss of profits, and forcible displacement

Doha Bank denied the allegations and characterized the claim as “groundless and without merit.”

Why This Matters

The 2019 filing established the only documented civil terrorism-financing proceeding against the Al-Khayyat brothers and their principal banking counterparty. Though procedurally dismissed on January 5, 2026 without a merits ruling (see 2026-01-05–bb-v-doha-bank-dismissed-failure-to-prosecute), the discovery record, witness statements, and pleadings remain the only public adversarial documentation of the factual predicate that the same brothers — now the principal private-capital beneficiaries of the FY 2026 NDAA’s Caesar Act repeal — had been accused of routing funds to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

The exact filing date (July 30, 2019) is established by the claim-form docket reference QB-2019-002712 cited in the 2023 Court of Appeal ruling. The claim was publicized in Arab News and other international outlets in mid-August 2019.

Related Entries

• doha-bank
• al-khayyat-brothers
• power-international-holding
• 2009-04–doha-bank-ny-fincen-occ-5m-bsa-penalty
• 2023-03-08–bb-v-doha-bank-court-of-appeal-state-immunity
• 2026-01-05–bb-v-doha-bank-dismissed-failure-to-prosecute
• 2025-12–caesar-act-repeal-fy2026-ndaa
• 2026-02-17–bloomberg-al-khayyat-syria-reconstruction