## Facts

- Alisa Flatow was killed on April 9, 1995, in a terrorist bombing in the Gaza Strip.
- Stephen M. Flatow sued Iran and related defendants in federal court under the FSIA terrorism exception and obtained a default judgment exceeding $247 million.
- Flatow registered the judgment in the District of Maryland and sought to enforce it by levying on Maryland real property titled to the Alavi Foundation, a New York nonprofit.
- Flatow alleged Alavi was a de facto instrumentality or alter ego of Iran, arguing its governance and activities reflected Iranian control and citing investigations and government materials expressing concern about Iranian influence.
- Alavi moved to release its properties from levy, quash the writs of execution, and enjoin future writs, asserting it owned the properties and was not a judgment debtor in the underlying case.

## Issues

1. Whether Maryland execution law permits a judgment creditor to levy on property titled to a non-party third party to satisfy a money judgment against a different debtor.
2. Whether FSIA execution provisions for terrorism judgments allow attachment of third-party property absent adequate proof that the property is legally “property of” the foreign state or its instrumentality.

## Decision

- The court granted Alavi’s motions to release the properties from levy and quashed the writs of execution.
- The court enjoined Flatow from issuing future writs of execution against Alavi’s property to satisfy the Iran judgment.
- The court held that, on the record presented, Flatow did not meet his burden to show Alavi was Iran’s alter ego or that Alavi’s properties were legally Iran’s property subject to execution.

## Legal Principles

- Under Maryland law, a judgment creditor generally may not satisfy a money judgment by levying on property owned by a third party who is not a judgment debtor, absent a recognized basis to disregard title (e.g., alter ego/veil piercing or similar doctrines) supported by sufficient evidence.
- FSIA execution exceptions permit attachment and execution only against qualifying “property in the United States of a foreign state” (and, where applicable, property used for commercial activity), but do not themselves create or redefine property ownership.
- In post-judgment execution against assets titled to a non-party, the judgment creditor bears the burden to prove the targeted asset is legally the debtor’s property or that the third party’s separate juridical status should be disregarded for execution purposes.
- Generalized suspicion, political context, or nonconclusive investigative materials are insufficient, without stronger proof of control/ownership, to treat a separate nonprofit’s assets as a foreign sovereign’s property for execution.

## Conclusion

The court prohibited enforcement of a terrorism-related FSIA judgment against Maryland property titled to the Alavi Foundation because Maryland execution law protects third-party property and the judgment creditor failed to prove the foundation was Iran’s alter ego or that the assets were legally Iran’s property.


Flatow v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 67 F. Supp. 2d 535 (D. Md. 1999)