American held in Iran sues U.S. for withholding victim funds

DETROIT — A Flint man who was imprisoned and abused by Iranian authorities on accusations he was a spy has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, alleging it has failed to compensate him after agreeing he was eligible to receive millions of dollars.

Amir Hekmati, 36, a Marine veteran, sued the U.S., saying that the Department of Justice’s United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund has still not paid him despite repeated requests. The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., by lead counsel Scott Gilbert.

According to the lawsuit, the fund for victims of terrorism told Hekmati almost two years ago that he was eligible to receive $20 million stemming from his time in an Iranian prison for more than four years from 2011 to 2016. At one point, Hekmati was sentenced to death after being accused of being a spy; he was released in January 2016 as part of a prisoner exchange with the U.S. tied to the Iranian nuclear deal.

In December, the fund notified Hekmati he was authorized to get an initial payment of his $20 million in compensation worth $890,100. But the money never came, despite repeated inquiries by Hekmati’s attorneys, said the lawsuit.

“It is an utter disgrace that the United States Department of Justice has effectively blocked payment to Amir Hekmati, a former Marine, who was brutally tortured and falsely imprisoned in Iran for nearly five years,” Scott Gilbert, lead counsel for Hekmati, said in a statement. “Sgt. Hekmati served his country bravely in combat, and he endured years of unimaginable physical and emotional anguish in the worst of Iranian prisons. ... Now, trying simply to get on with his life back home, he’s being victimized all over again, this time by his own country.”

A spokesman for the Department of Justice declined comment.

“The Fund sent a letter to Mr. Hekmati confirming the amount of his first distribution and stating that payment would begin in January 2019 nearly a year ago,” said the lawsuit. “The Fund paid all eligible claimants except Mr. Hekmati nine months ago.”