Opinion ID: 573887
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Rich's Citizenship

Text: 4 In April 1982 a federal grand jury began investigating the activities of Rich and Marc Rich & Co., A.G. (AG). On August 16, 1982, Rich became naturalized as a Spanish citizen, appearing before a judge in Madrid and swearing an oath and fidelity to the King and to obey Spanish Law which oath is given in the legal form and ... renounc[ing] his USA citizenship. Rich thereby obtained Spanish citizenship, a Spanish national identity card, and a Spanish passport. 5 Despite his naturalization as a Spanish citizen, Rich continued to behave in a manner consistent with American citizenship. On March 25, 1983, the United States Consul in Madrid informed Rich that he might have lost his United States citizenship by swearing allegiance to Spain. The Consul requested that Rich respond within 30 days to clarify his intent. Rich did not respond until November 23, 1984, fifteen months after this action commenced. 6 In early 1983, when AG failed to comply with a subpoena to produce documents issued by the federal grand jury, Rich feared that, as an American citizen and chairman of the board of the company, he might be held in contempt for the company's actions. Consequently, in May 1983, Rich and his partner brought action in a Swiss court to compel production of the documents, arguing that [t]he plaintiffs as private individuals with American citizenship are subject to American jurisdiction, and therefore risked sanctions for AG's failure to produce the documents. 7 Rich continued to use his American passport despite renunciation of American citizenship. Although he never produced the passport during discovery, a notable omission given the vast amount of evidence produced throughout this case, witnesses testified that they had seen him travelling in the United States during 1982 and 1983. His Spanish passport indicated no such travel during that time. 8 Rich also continued to list himself in the Commercial Register of the Swiss Canton of Zug as an American citizen living in Samosaguas, Madrid. Rich's stated citizenship in the register remained unchanged throughout 1982 and early 1983, despite a number of corrections made to other parts of Rich's entry during the years in question. Rich did not change his listing to indicate Spanish citizenship until May 13, 1985, after this action commenced.