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Otto Pick - Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks)

Otto Pick - Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks)

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anks practice of withholding or misstating account information in their responses to inquiries<br />

by account owners because of the banks concern regarding double liability; and given the<br />

application of Presumptions (h) and (j), as provided in Article 28 of the Rules Governing the<br />

Claims Resolution Process, as amended (the Rules ) (see Appendix A), the CRT concludes that<br />

it is plausible that the account proceeds were not paid to the Account Owners or their heirs.<br />

Based on its precedent and the Rules, the CRT applies presumptions to assist in the<br />

determination of whether or not Account Owners or their heirs received the proceeds of their<br />

accounts.<br />

Basis for the Award<br />

The CRT has determined that an Award may be made in favor of Antoinette Bentley, Elizabeth<br />

Jarvis and Marietta Hurst. First, the claim is admissible in accordance with the criteria contained<br />

in Article 18 of the Rules Governing the Claims Resolution Process (the Rules ). Second, the<br />

Claimant and the parties she represents have plausibly demonstrated that the Account Owners<br />

were Antoinette Bentley s parents and Elizabeth Jarvis s and Marietta Hurst s grandparents, and<br />

those relationships justify an Award. Third, the CRT has determined that it is plausible that<br />

neither the Account Owners nor their heirs received the proceeds of the accounts at issue.<br />

Further, the CRT notes that Antoinette Bentley, as a child of the Account Owners, has a better<br />

entitlement than her son, Peter Bentley; and that Elizabeth Jarvis, Marietta Hurst, and Antoinette<br />

Bentley, as blood relatives of the Account Owners, have a better entitlement to the accounts than<br />

does the Claimant, who is the sister of the Account Owners son-in-law.<br />

Amount of the Award<br />

In this case, the Account Owners held two custody accounts and one demand deposit account.<br />

Pursuant to Article 29 of the Rules, when the value of an account is unknown, as is the case here,<br />

the average value of the same or a similar type of account in 1945 is used to calculate the current<br />

value of the account being awarded. Based on the investigation carried out pursuant to the<br />

instructions of the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons ( ICEP or the ICEP<br />

Investigation ), in 1945 the average value of a custody account was 13,000.00 <strong>Swiss</strong> Francs<br />

( SF ) and the average value of a demand deposit account was SF 2,140.00. Thus, the average<br />

historic value of the Account Owners two custody accounts and one demand deposit account<br />

was SF 28,140.00. The current value of this amount is calculated by multiplying it by a factor of<br />

12.5, in accordance with Article 31(1) of the Rules, to produce a total award amount of SF<br />

351,750.00.<br />

Division of the Award<br />

According to Article 23(1)(c), if the Account Owner s spouse has not submitted a claim, the<br />

award shall be in favor of any descendants of the Account Owner who have submitted a claim, in<br />

equal shares by representation. Accordingly, Antoinette Bentley is entitled to one-half of the<br />

total award amount and Elizabeth Jarvis and Marietta Hurst are each entitled to one-fourth of the<br />

total award amount.<br />

7/8

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