A US federal appeals court is upholding the award of US$1 billion in damages to Motorola by the Uzan family of Turkey over allegations of fraud regarding loans provided to Turkish mobile operator Telsim. In 2002 Motorola and Nokia sued the Uzan family, previous owners of Telsim, claiming the family borrowed US$2.7 billion to construct a national wireless network but actually had no plans to pay back the loans.
Nokia settled with Telsim in 2005, with Motorola going on to be awarded a total of US$4.26 billion in damages, reduced to US$1 billion in 2006 by a U.S. District Court. The Uzan family appealed the final ruling, but the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has found in favour of Motorola, ruling the US$1 billion payout is to go ahead.