Libya Investment Authority, Belgian Deputy Foreign Minister deny vanishing of €10b of Libya frozen assets

BY Libyan Express Mar 10, 2018 - 12:03

Belgian Deputy Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said the report of the disappearance of frozen Libyan funds from the Belgian Euroclear bank are “fake news.”

The top diplomatic official was commenting on the report of Le Vif weekly news outlet, claiming that 10 billion euros ($12.3 billion) out of 16.1 billion euros vanished from the bank accounts that had been frozen in line with the UN sanctions against late Muammar Gaddafi and his family.

The bank accounts were opened by the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and its branch Libyan Foreign Investment Company. According to the media outlet, the funds were frozen in March 2011 and vanished in the period from 2013-2017. Brussels reportedly did not authorize unfreezing the funds.

“Press freedom, certainly, exists, but when the information is false I expect that it will be corrected,” Reynders told the Belga news agency, commenting on the situation.

Meanwhile, LIA denied the news and said it is totally untrue.

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