Italy’s financial police seized over 1.1 billion euros (some $1.5 billion) of assets controlled by the family of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Italian media reported.
A statement from the police said that the assets seized included shares in top Italian firms, particularly in the country’s largest banking group UniCredit, carmaker Fiat, oil major Eni and aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica.
The seizure is following a request from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The ICC seeks extradition of Gaddafi’s son, Seif al-Islam, from Libya on charges of crimes against humanity.
Police said it also seized a stock in the football club Juventus as well as 150 hectares of land on Pantelleria, which is an Italian island between Sicily and the Tunisian coast, and also a building in Rome.
After eight months of fierce anti-government fighting, which claimed hundreds of lives and devastated the economy, deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi, who had ruled Libya for 42 years, was killed in October of 2011 after being captured by rebel forces near his home town of Sirte.
