Motorola, Inc. has successfully taken steps to enforce its approximately $2.5 billion arbitration award against the Turkish cellular phone operator, Telsim Mobil Telekomunikasyon (“Telsim”).
On June 13 a panel of arbitrators from the Zurich Chamber of Commerce issued a final award in the arbitration pending between Telsim and Motorola Credit Corporation (MCC) concerning the amounts due by Telsim to MCC under the financing arrangements between the parties.
Telsim had borrowed nearly $2.0 billion from Motorola for the financing of a Motorola-constructed cellular telephone system and has failed to pay Motorola despite the system’s operational success. The system now has 8 mln subscribers and is the second largest operator in Turkey. The arbitral panel rejected Telsim’s defenses and, after three years of contested proceedings, issued an award now worth $2.5 billion (including interest) in Motorola’s favor against Telsim; however, Telsim has continued to refuse to pay Motorola.
On June 27 the Supreme Court of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland confirmed that Telsim had not sought to appeal the award, with the effect that the award is final and enforceable.
As a result, Motorola has begun to enforce the Final Award worldwide. By August 3, courts in the U.S. and the U.K. granted Motorola’s request to attach the international roaming and interconnect revenues Telsim has earned in those countries.
As the result of the decisions from the U.S. and U.K. courts, Motorola will be able to attach and/or freeze the monies other carriers would have otherwise paid to Telsim for international roaming and interconnect services.
As previously announced, Motorola is continuing aggressively to enforce the judgment for $2.13 billion rendered on behalf of Motorola against the Uzan family of Turkey for perpetrating a massive fraud against Motorola relating to the Telsim loans. As previously announced, the United States Supreme Court denied the Uzans’ petition for a writ of certiorari with respect to this judgment on May 16, thereby ending all the Uzan’s rights to further appeal of the judgment rendered by Judge Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
