Jay Solomon, the Journal’s former chief foreign correspondent filed a lawsuit in federal court late on Friday against Philadelphia-based Dechert LLP, law firm for allegedly using Indian hackers to oust him from his job.
Dechert is being accused of a hack and leak operation wherein the emails between Jay and one of his important sources, Iranian American aviation executive, Farhad Azima were stolen. What followed afterwards was that the key idea from the messages that hinted towards the two entering into a business together was put into a dossier. Later, as alleged by Solomon in his lawsuit the law firm Dechert “wrongfully disclosed this dossier first to Mr. Solomon’s employer, the Wall Street Journal, at its Washington DC bureau, and then to other media outlets in an attempt to malign and discredit him.”
In June of 2017, the Associated press published two articles about Azima one of which shed light on the fact that he offered Solomon 10 percent stake in a company, Denx LLC. Shortly before this story was published by AP, the Journal had sacked Jay Solomon citing ethical violations.
In his own defence, Solomon said that he never consummated any business dealings with Azima. He acknowledged that there were serious mistakes in his handling of relationship with his source, Azima. Jay said that he never pushed back on the business talks of the aviation tycoon because he was trying to humour a man who had been vital to his reporting on the Middle East.
Azima has filed his own lawsuit against Dechert on Thursday in New York. Solomon and Azima allege that Dechert undertook the hack-and-leak operation on behalf of Ras Al Khaimah’s investment agency (RAKIA). In 2020, a judge in London found Farhad Azima liable for cheating his former business partner, an investment fund based in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. This case relied heavily on hacked email and Azima believed that allies of Ras Al Khaimah’s ruler, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr al-Qasimi, had masterminded the leak in a bid to win at trial. Azima has long denied the fraud allegations and is trying to have the judgment thrown out.
Dechert LLP, the law firm in the centre of all this controversy denied the allegations against them and are ready for the legal battle.
