Iraq recovers more than nine million dollars from frozen assets in Italy

The Iraqi Funds Recovery Fund announced its success in recovering more than nine million dollars of Iraqi funds that had been frozen in Italy. This latest achievement reflects the effectiveness of the Fund’s legal and diplomatic efforts in recovering these assets. Mohammed Ali Al-Lami, Chairman of the Fund’s Board of Directors, stated that the Fund received information about Iraqi government accounts held at UniCredit Bank in Rome.

These accounts stemmed from contracts signed by Iraqi ministries with Italian companies before 2003 and had been subject to litigation since 1999. He added that the Fund, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant Italian authorities, initiated a series of legal and technical procedures that resulted in the recovery of more than nine million dollars, equivalent to 12,479,755,320 Iraqi dinars, and their return to government accounts. He confirmed that these funds were deposited into the accounts of the Iraqi embassies in Italy. The Vatican and the commercial attaché in Rome, then it was transferred to the embassy’s secure account at Intesa Sanpaolo bank, in preparation for sending it to a bank account inside Iraq in accordance with the approved legal frameworks.

He also pointed out that the completion of the recovery process involved diligent efforts by the Fund and the relevant Iraqi institutions, as these efforts culminated in lifting the seizure notice on those frozen balances, after continuous follow-up with the competent authorities in Italy. He noted that with regard to the balances belonging to Al-Rafidain and Al-Rasheed banks, the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Rome is waiting for the required powers of attorney to be sent from the general administration of the two banks, so that it can take the necessary action regarding the restricted amounts.

Burathanews.com