A Turkish family found guilty of massive fraud against Motorola a...

ordered the Uzan family to pay $2.13 billion in compensation and $2.13 billion in punitive damages in a case related to fraudulent loan arrangements the Uzans set up between the manufacturers and Uzan-backed Turkish wireless operator Telsim. On appeal, however, the 2nd Circuit ruled punitive award too high to “be squared with federal or Illinois law” and sent the case back to the lower court to recalculate. The district court ordered additional evidence discovery and reduced the award to $1 billion. The Uzans appealed again, arguing that the punitive damages assessed still equaled “an economic death sentence that neither Illinois law nor the Constitution permit.” But the award is acceptable under Illinois law because the district court “properly considered the best available evidence of defendants’ financial status” and the Uzans “have made no showing that the district court’s award was the product of passion, partiality, or corruption,” the appeals court said. The award also complies with federal law, because of a Supreme Court ruling that “only when an award can fairly be categorized as ‘grossly excessive’… does it enter the zone of arbitrariness that violates the Due Process Clause,” the 2nd Circuit said: “The award in this case, despite its size, cannot be deemed grossly excessive.” Motorola said it was pleased with the decision. Nokia didn’t comment right away.