DETROIT (AP) — A federal jury in Detroit says a bank didn’t discriminate against an Arab-American charity when it closed its accounts.
The Detroit Free Press reports a jury in U.S. District Court returned the decision on Tuesday following less than an hour of deliberations.
Southfield-based Life for Relief and Development sued Bank of America in 2012. Shereef Akeel, a lawyer for the charity, says they’re disappointed with the jury’s decision.
Bank of America said the decision to close the accounts wasn’t based on prejudice. A memo shown at trial said Life for Relief and Development had “unknown sources of cash deposits and unusual activity for a business account.” The charity says nothing was out of the ordinary.
The charity does relief work in the Middle East and elsewhere, including the U.S.
