Disappearance of Libya’s frozen assets in Belgium: Official passiveness

A Belgian investigation is underway into the billions of euros missing from Belgian banks that belonged to the Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.

This investigation comes following the accusations that Belgium authorities were paying out interest and dividends on frozen Libyan bank accounts.

Belgium is now under fire to explain why unknown recipients received millions of euros from these frozen accounts in Brussels.

“UN documents confirm that Belgium failed to comply with a UN resolution on freezing Libyan assets,” Belgian member of parliament Georges Gilkine said, according to public broadcaster RTBF.

In the meantime, the former Chairman of the Libyan Investment Authority, AbdulMagid Breish, told the Libyan News last Saturday that this case must be taken to the Attorney General’s (AG) Office to investigate the disappearance of the money between 2011 and 2018.

He added that the Head of the Investigations Bureau at the AG’s Office could appoint an international firm that specialises in the auditing and reviewing of accounts, funds and assets, to evaluate the assets’ disappearance.

“All money transfers and pay checks are documented internationally. It is not a complicated issue. Banks which have LIA’s assets and accounts can easily pull out the documents and transfers it made over the years.” Breish added.

He explained that since 2011, there have been four LIA heads, Rafiq Al-Nayed, Mohsen Drreja, AbdulMagid Breish, and Ali Mahmoud, and that all four should be investigated – including himself – alongside the heads of relevant firms, so as to discover what happened in a completely transparent manner.