Africa Intelligence website reported that the New York proceedings aimed at recovering billions of dollars in assets allegedly misappropriated during the Gaddafi era were officially suspended on 13 January.
The website added on Friday that the request for disclosure of documents had been filed by the law firms BakerHostetler and Holland & Knight against eight international banks that might have information on the location of this hoard: Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, HSBC, Credit Suisse, Bank of New York Mellon and Deutsche Bank.
The suspension comes after a dispute over who was in charge of the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office (LARMO), the Libyan entity under the authority of Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah that is responsible for recovering Libyan assets blocked abroad.
Africa Intelligence explained that LARMO signed a representation contract with the aforementioned US law firms in May 2021 when Anwar Arif was the body’s director.
Arif was replaced in June 2021 by Mohamed Ramadan Mensli, yet he continued to present himself as the head of LARMO, including in a letter justifying the request for disclosure of documents.
“Mensli, whose legitimacy was confirmed by the Libyan embassy in Washington, disavowed the procedure launched in New York, and alerted the Tripoli-based Libyan Attorney General Siddiq al-Sour, who decided to arrest Anwar Arif at the end of December 2021.
