VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0447/01 0681030
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091030Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6041
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 2778
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS RABAT 000447 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR CA/OCS/PRI, L/CA AND L/CID 
USDOC FOR OGC, THOFFMAN/ITA/MAC/AMESA/OME/MCLORY, AND 
3131//USFCS/OIO/RD/ANESA/HVINEYARD/GLITMAN/ST AUHIDI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV BEXP MA
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR GUIDANCE ON ADVOCACY REQUEST BY U.S. 
COMPANY 
 
REF: 7 FAM 670 
 
This message is Senstive but Unclassified.  Contains company 
proprietary information.  Not for internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary and Action Request: Embassy requests L 
guidance on how to respond to a request from U.S. investor 
IAG Manufacturing, a bankrupt manufacturer of body armor, for 
USG assistance in addressing the "injustice" it claims it has 
suffered as a result of the Moroccan legal system's failure 
to prevent its dismissed former manager from filing a series 
of "baseless" claims against its local subsidiary.  Those 
claims have kept the company from enjoying clean title to its 
remaining buildings and property in Tangier, Morocco, and 
made it impossible for it to sell those assets and liquidate 
its business in Morocco.  The company also claims that its 
former lawyer is improperly attempting to force sale of that 
land and building to settle an alleged debt of 6,000 USD, 
when in fact he has already enforced liens on 200,000 USD in 
equipment in payment of the 45,000 USD the company owed him 
after his dismissal.  The Embassy had earlier indicated that 
the company should seek resolution of the dispute through the 
Moroccan courts; the company now alleges that the Moroccan 
justice system has shown that it is incapable of providing 
such resolution.  End Summary and action request. 
 
¶2. (SBU) IAG  Manufacturing, a Moroccan subsidiary of Second 
Chance Armor (which we understand is the subject of USG 
litigation in the United States), has sought Embassy and USG 
support for several years.  The company alleges a protracted 
campaign of legal harassment against it by its former 
manager, whom it dismissed for fraud several years ago.  The 
company has emerged victorious in each case at significant 
expense, but once one case is resolved, a new case is filed 
against it, forcing it again to go through time-consuming and 
expensive litigation.  IAG notes that when it sought to reach 
a negotiated settlement with its former manager in which he 
would drop all his cases against the company, if it dropped 
its cases against him, he agreed, provided the company also 
made an additional 50,000 USD payment.  The company demurred, 
believing it had already paid him more than they should have. 
 Adding to IAG's difficulties is the fact that it also had a 
falling out with its attorney, and dismissed him in 2005. 
Thereafter, according to the company, the lawyer, who it 
concedes was still owed 45,000 USD, was successful in placing 
a lien on and seizing equipment worth 200,000 USD to cover 
the debt.  IAG now indicates that the lawyer is seeking to 
seize its remaining land and building to cover an alleged 
additional debt of 6,000 USD. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Over the years, FCS has tried to assist the company, 
providing counseling on resolving the matter without directly 
intervening in the legal dispute.  This led to some early 
successes, as a number of the intial court cases were won. 
As the legal process has dragged on, however, the company has 
renewed its request for more direct Embassy advocacy, arguing 
that the Moroccan legal system has shown that it is 
manifestly incapable of providing it with due process or 
preventing a campaign of frivolous legal harassment against 
it.  It has also requested that its former lawyer be removed 
from the Consulate's list of lawyers.  We have rebuffed the 
latter request, noting that such action is only possible if 
he has been disbarred or otherwise censured by either 
Moroccan courts or the Moroccan bar association.  The company 
has expressed unhappiness with this decision, and continues 
to press for Embassy support against the legal "injustice" it 
faces. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment and action request: Like the Moroccan 
bureaucracy, the Moroccan legal system can be convoluted and 
difficult.  Lawyers we have spoken to about the system 
generally concede that it does not provide an effective 
mechanism for winnowing out cases and dismissing those that 
are without merit at an early stage.  Hence when confronted 
with a determined opponent, a foreign company (or indeed any 
company) can be forced into protracted and costly litigation. 
 Given the charges and the countercharges that are flying 
between IAG and its former partners and lawyer, we remain 
steadfast in our reluctance to become involved in the 
substance of the case.  Our question regards instead L's view 
of whether it is possible to make a broader representation to 
the Moroccan government about the troubling pattern that is 
apparent in the Moroccan courts' inability to provide final 
resolution to the dispute.  End comment and action request. 
****************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
****************************************** 
 
Bush