Tran Qui Than v. Donald T. Regan

Appellant Tran Qui Than (Than) appeals from a grant of summary judgment in favor of the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary). The judgment upheld the Secretary’s decision to deny Than’s application for a license to unblock certain funds in the United States which had been blocked pursuant to § 5(b) of the Trading with the Enemy Act (hereinafter “TWEA”), 50 U.S.C. App. § 5(b), and the Foreign Assets Control Regulations (Regulations), 31 C.F.R. §§ 500.101 et seq. (1980). This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm in part and remand in part.

I. FACTS

The facts are not in dispute. Than is a citizen of the Republic of Vietnam and a resident alien of the United States. Prior to fleeing from Vietnam on April 25, 1975, Than was a shareholder, director, and president of the Dong Phuong Bank, a private corporation established in 1968 under the laws of the Republic of Vietnam.

As of April 30, 1975, the date on which South Vietnam fell to the communist forces, the Bank was owned by twenty shareholders, all of whom were nationals and residents of Vietnam. The Bank’s ten directors owned more than 80 percent of the outstanding shares; Than was the principle…