Alcoa Asks to Reopen Bahrain Aluminum Case to Seek Dismissal - Bloomberg

Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, wants a racketeering lawsuit filed against it by Bahrain’s state-owned aluminum producer reopened by a judge, saying that it will seek to dismiss the case.

Aluminum Bahrain BSC, known as Alba, sued in February 2008, claiming that Alcoa bribed senior officials in Bahrain and caused Alba to pay inflated prices for alumina, the principal raw material in aluminum. The case was filed in federal court in Pittsburgh, where Alcoa is based.

A month later, U.S. District Judge Donetta Ambrose halted the case after the U.S. Justice Department said it was investigating whether Alcoa made corrupt payments in Bahrain. The judge also administratively closed the case, “to allow the government to fully conduct an investigation without the interference and distraction of ongoing civil litigation,” court records show.

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