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Extracted Text (OCR)
812
jurisdiction). “If a plaintiff has identified
a genuine issue of jurisdictional fact, juris-
dictional discovery is appropriate even in
the absence of a prima facie showing as to
the existence of jurisdiction.” Daventree,
349 F.Supp.2d 7386 at 761, 2004 WL
2997881, at *20 (citing Im re Magnetic
Audiotape, 334 F.3d at 207-08). Courts
are not obligated to subject a foreign de-
fendant to discovery, however, where the
allegations of jurisdictional facts, con-
strued in plaintiffs’ favor, fail to state a
basis for the exercise of jurisdiction or
where discovery would not uncover suffi-
cient facts to sustain jurisdiction. Jd. (cit-
ing Jazini, 148 F.3d at 183-85 (granting
motion to dismiss and denying jurisdiction-
al discovery where complaint was de-
scribed as “sparse” and “conclusory”)); see
also Cornell v. Assicuraziont Generali
S.p.A., Consolidated, Nos. 97 Civ. 2262, 98
Civ. 9186(MBM), 2000 WL 284222, at *2
(S.D.N.Y. Mar. 16, 2000) (granting motion
to dismiss and denying request for juris-
dictional discovery where the complaint
stated, without any supporting facts, that
the defendant “participates in a ‘multina-
tional insurance arrangement’ present in
the State of New York”); In re Ski Train
Fure in Kaprun, Austria, 230 F.Supp.2d at
410-413 (granting motion to dismiss and
denying jurisdictional discovery where
complaint only contained conclusory alle-
gations).
D. Application of Plaintiffs’ Theo-
ries to Moving Defendants
1. Prince Sultan
The Court outlined the allegations
against Prince Sultan in Part I.B.1. With
respect to Prince Sultan’s contacts with
the United States, Plaintiffs allege that
“Saudi Royal family members own sub-
stantial assets in the United States of
America, and do substantial business in
the United States of America, the profits
of which in part, are used to fund interna-
349 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT, 2d SERIES
tional terrorist acts, including those which
led to the murderous attacks of September
11, 2001.” See Ashton Complaint 1296.
There is no indication of whether these
unspecified members of the Royal family
include Prince Sultan. Most Plaintiffs also
claim Prince Sultan is the ex-officio Chair-
man of the Board of Saudi Arabia Airlines,
“which does business in the United States
and internationally.” Burnett Complaint
1340; Ashton Complaint 1253; Barrera
Complaint 1255; Salvo Complaint 1245;
Tremsky Complaint 1180. The Federal
Plaintiffs do not make a similar allegation.
[57] To the extent these allegations are
an attempt to establish general jurisdiction
over Prince Sultan, they are insufficient.
See In ve Baan Co. Sec. Litig, 245
F.Supp.2d 117, 180 (D.D.C.2003) (refusing
to hold that control status in foreign corpo-
ration with United States office is suffi-
cient for personal jurisdiction over individ-
ual); Cornell, 2000 WL 284222, at *2
(granting motion to dismiss where com-
plaint contained one conclusory statement
regarding jurisdiction); Family Internet,
Inc. v. Cybernex, Inc, No. 98 Civ.
06377RWS), 1999 WL 796177, at *4
(S.D.N.Y. Oct. 6, 1999) (holding that per-
sonal jurisdiction must be individually es-
tablished over corporate officers even
when the court has personal jurisdiction
over the corporation itself).
[58] Proceeding under the purposefully
directed activities theory of personal juris-
diction, Plaintiffs argue that Prince Sultan
knew or should have known the organiza-
tions to which he donated were funneling
money to al Qaeda and that al Qaeda’s
primary target was the United States.
Consol. Plaintiffs’ Opp. at 23. Prince Sul-
tan argues that his alleged actions cannot
satisfy the minimum contacts requirement
since the Second Circuit’s recent descrip-
tion of Calder requires “primary partici-
paltion] in intentional wrongdoing.” See
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