Government Sues for San Bernardino Gunman’s Life Insurance Policies

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

May 31, 2016

LOS ANGELES — Federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit Tuesday to seize payments on life insurance policies taken out by Syed Rizwan Farook, who with his wife killed 14 people in December in San Bernardino, Calif.

The United States attorney’s office in Los Angeles filed the civil asset forfeiture lawsuit for two policies worth a total of $275,000.

Mr. Farook took out a policy worth $25,000 in 2012 and one worth $250,000 in 2013, prosecutors said. His mother was named as the beneficiary of both policies. Mr. Farook’s wife, Tashfeen Malik, died with him in a shootout with the authorities after the Dec. 2 terrorist attack.

The United States attorney’s office said that under federal law, assets derived from terrorism against the United States were subject to forfeiture. The lawsuit seeks to seize the proceeds and the policies themselves.

“Terrorists must not be permitted to provide for their designated beneficiaries through their crimes,” the United States attorney for the region, Eileen M. Decker, said. “My office intends to explore every legal option available to us to ensure these funds are made available to the victims of this horrific crime.”

Government Sues for San Bernardino Gunman’s Life Insurance Policies