According to a court filing in London, the Libyan Investment Authority is seeking $1.5 billion in overall damages against Societe Generale SA for claims that the French bank had bribed a friend of the Qaddafi family $58 million in payments to secure investments. LIA said that its board had discovered that the payments made to Panama-based company owned by Walid Giahmi were done in secret and are aimed to influence the sovereign wealth fund's decision to enter all of the bribes being disputed in the lawsuit.
LIA chairman AbdulMagid Breish told Bloomberg in an email, "This claim, together with the one against Goldman Sachs that was initiated in January 2014, reflects the desire of the LIA's new board of directors to redress previous wrongs and seek the recovery of these substantial funds as it seeks to invest and generate wealth for the people of Libya."
In its court documents filed in London, LIA said that it doesn't know how or who had done the bribes, but it claimed that the agency's former executives received payments or other personal benefits.
Bloomberg noted that the LIA is among the dozens of small firms and government agencies who had gone after lenders over deals they claim were too difficult to comprehend. The LIA had also filed a claim against Goldman Sachs Group Inc on January 21, saying that the Wall Street bank fraudulently made $350 million by selling derivatives to the Libyan agency the latter said was found to be worthless.
In a statement, Societe Generale said, "The LIA's allegations are unsubstantiated and Societe Generale will defend these proceedings vigorously. Societe Generale also wishes to make clear that as far as it is aware, it is not under investigation by regulatory or law enforcement authorities in relation to its relationship with the LIA."
Lawyers for Giahmi, who is friends with the son of deposed Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi, also insist that the claims made by the LIA were without merit.
