Airline executive agrees to dismiss litigation around alleged hack-for-hire scheme

Several lawsuits filed by the airline mogul Farhad Azima over an alleged smear campaign involving the hiring of hackers to break into his email accounts have been resolved, bringing to an end a nearly nine-year legal saga.

Counsel for Azima and the defendants on Wednesday submitted a joint motion to dismiss with prejudice a case filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in the Southern District of New York. Another lawsuit in North Carolina against private investigator Nicholas Del Rosso, who allegedly hired Indian hackers to dig up dirt on Azima, was also resolved. 

The cases, which stretched across multiple continents and shed light on the shady world of corporate espionage and mercenary hackers, stemmed from a scheme allegedly orchestrated by an attorney at the law firm Dechert to hack into Azima’s accounts for one of its clients, a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates called the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA). The hacked information would then be used against Azima in court.

Dechert and Azima reached a settlement in the case in the Southern District of New York last September, and the law firm also agreed to pay Azima $3.8 million in February 2024 to resolve litigation in the United Kingdom.

A spokesperson for Dechert and a representative of Azima declined to say if this week’s dismissals involve additional settlement agreements.

“I am thrilled and feel vindicated by the outcome,” Azima said in a statement. 

In response to a request for comment, a Dechert spokesperson pointed to a filing last year from the magistrate judge in the Southern District of New York recommending dismissal of the case, to which “the plaintiffs have filed objections.”

“The defendants and Mr. Azima have now resolved all claims without admission of liability,” they said.  

While the dismissals bring to an end litigation brought by Azima, one of the defendants in the case — the Israeli private eye Amit Forlit — remains in legal crosshairs. Forlit is awaiting extradition from the U.K. and faces federal charges in the U.S. over allegedly carrying out cyberattacks for clients, including against climate activists on behalf of the oil giant ExxonMobil and the lobbying firm DCI Group.