The Federal Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a civil ruling in absentia obligating Representatives Gebran Bassil, Majid Boyz, Danny George Macaron, and Ahmed Sassine, to jointly pay Lara and Elie Samaha $35 million, in addition to legal interest. The ruling, signed by Judge Jose Martinez on October 13, 2026, includes ten million dollars in damages and $25 million in punitive damages, without specifying a separate share for each of the convicts. The court considered Bassil civilly responsible for torture, fraud, and conspiracy, as part of a plan to lure the couple from Florida to Lebanon, detain them, and torture them to force them to drop a case before the American judiciary. She explained that the four defendants failed to appear and respond despite being notified, and that sworn statements and other evidence support proof of their responsibility. The civil ruling is for compensation, and does not include a prison sentence. On the other hand, Bassil commented, saying: “We were surprised by what some media reported about the issuance of a judicial ruling against us by the American courts in the state of Florida, in the case filed by Lara Mansour and Elie Samaha, while the aforementioned courts had previously ruled to dismiss the case in form because they did not have jurisdiction to consider the dispute, according to the decision issued by them on 3/27/2023. In light of what was published, we categorically confirm that we have no connection to the facts that are the subject of the aforementioned judicial file, and that we do not have any relationship with those concerned. In any case, the same facts were previously decided before the Lebanese judiciary in our favor, according to a final judicial ruling convicting both Lara Mansour and Elie Samaha. In conclusion, we affirm that presenting the judicial facts in a selective or partial manner, and ignoring the decisions and rulings issued by the competent judicial authorities, cannot change the established legal truth, create a connection for us with facts that have no relation to us, or undermine our established rights according to the judicial rulings issued. Accordingly, we categorically reject any attempt to implicate our name in facts other than their reality, and we reserve all our rights to take all appropriate legal measures against anyone proven to have violated our rights or harmed our reputation.”