Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Telsim urges Motorola to drop suit

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 20:47:17 -0400

Telsim urges Motorola to drop suit

July 25, 2003

The chief executive of Telsim, Turkey's No. 2 wireless carrier, on Friday urged
Motorola Inc. to abandon its fraud lawsuit against 
his family following a favorable ruling by a Swiss court. 

Motorola, the world's second-largest cell phone maker, and its larger rival,
Nokia, sued the Uzan family, which owns Telsim, in January 2002 in U.S. District
Court in New York. The suit charged the family with fraud and racketeering related
to about $3 billion in loans the companies made to Telsim. Motorola wants to
recover $2 billion of that.
 
Telsim CEO Hakan Uzan said Friday the Geneva Court of Justice ruled on July 10
that Motorola failed to prove it was defrauded by the Uzan family, which owns
Telsim. The case relates to Uzan family assets in Switzerland that have been
frozen.  "Motorola management seems intent on pushing ahead with this distracting
litigation while the (company's) business is falling behind in terms of its
performance and its competitive position," Hakan Uzan said in a statement. "This
benefits no one, particularly not Motorola shareholders." 

Motorola's attorney, Howard Stahl of Washington law firm Steptoe & Johnson, said
the Chicago area-based company has no intention of dropping its lawsuit and plans
to pursue collection of the money it is owed. 

He said the Geneva ruling dealt only with the frozen Swiss assets and not the
broader U.S. fraud case. The Swiss court ruled since it was still possible
Motorola could recover money some day from Telsim, the amount by which the U.S.
company charges it was defrauded has not been established, Stahl said. 

"We believe, in any event, the ruling is erroneous and we are appealing it," he
said. 

Stahl said the Swiss Federal Supreme Court last month agreed to keep the freezing
order on those same assets and others in place. He said while the Geneva court's
decision is being appealed, the Swiss assets in question remain frozen. 

Meanwhile, a decision in the U.S. case is expected soon. While the racketeering
charges were dismissed as premature in March, they could be reinstated, Stahl
said. 

Telsim has repeatedly said the dispute is commercial and should be decided in
Swiss arbitration court as stipulated by the contract between the two companies. 
 
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=9595

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Free shipping on all inkjet cartridge & refill kit orders to US & Canada. Low prices up to 80% off. We have your brand: HP, Epson, Lexmark & more.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5510
http://us.click.yahoo.com/GHXcIA/n.WGAA/ySSFAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/