Emirates Bank extortion claim involving former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler and InfoSpan’s SpanCash

“They wanted SpanCash and they wanted the money,” attorney William A. Isaacson said in his closing arguments Wednesday. Isaacson — a partner with powerhouse law firm Boies Schiller & Flexner, chaired by high-profile litigator David Boies — argued that the bank resorted to “pure extortion” in an attempt to get its way. As a result of the bank’s criminal complaint, InfoSpan alleged Bajwa’s partner, Larry Scudder, was detained at the Dubai International Airport and taken to a cell where he was locked in with 30 other men for 19 hours until he secured his release by turning over his passport. According to the lawsuit, Bajwa tried to resolve the situation but was told Scudder's passport would be released and he could leave the country only if InfoSpan gave up ownership and control of SpanCash to the bank. Six months later, the bank withdrew the fraud accusations and Scudder got his passport back, but SpanCash’s reputation was tarnished and it collapsed, Bajwa previously told The Times. The bank disputed that it acquired InfoSpan’s source code or used it at any time. Former White House counsel and an attorney for the bank, Kathryn Ruemmler, said that Emirates never would have acquired source code in a joint-partnership deal like the one reached with InfoSpan. She said such technology would instead be held by a third-party escrow company for the length of the partnership. In her closing arguments, the partner with global firm Latham & Watkins told the jury that Bajwa and InfoSpan sold the bank a “bill of goods,” arguing that despite promises to Emirates, the technology never worked and InfoSpan wasn’t as big a company as it claimed. The bank cancelled the deal and filed a criminal complaint, not as a form of extortion but simply to regain the bank’s money after it was misled and doubts grew about the character of InfoSpan’s employees, Ruemmler told the jury. “They concluded, definitively, that they had been defrauded,” she said. Lubna Qassim, group general counsel for Emirates Bank, said in a statement after the verdict that "Emirates Bank is gratified by today's decision and the opportunity to receive a fair trial in U.S. courts." Bajwa said the trial has taken a toll on him and he doesn’t know his next steps. “T am just beat up,” he said. Phil Hirschkorn contributed to this report. On Fri, Aug 12, 2016 at 7:23 AM, Weingarten, Reid i> wrote: Hope she is pleased/happy/satisfied/proud From: jeffrey E. [mailto:jeevacation@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 8:16 PM To: Weingarten, Reid Subject: your girl won please note The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of JEE Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_026006