No Liberty For Libertad: Argentina's Battle With Hedge Fund Billionaire For Navy Vessel Continues

The incredible story of the Argentine vessel detained in Ghana at the request of a hedge fund tied to billionaire Paul Singer continues. On Thursday, a court in Ghana rejected the Argentine state’s request to grant the Fragata Libertad diplomatic immunity, despite it being a military ship. NML Capital, the hedge fund, is looking to extract payment from the Argentine state on sovereign bonds that were part of the largest sovereign debt default in 2001 and 2002. The Administration of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called Singer’s Elliott Capital a “vulture fund” and accused it of using immoral and “usurious practices,” while claiming the vessel is protected by immunity granted by the Vienna Convention.

The story seems more suited for a novel than business journalism. When the 103-meter ARA Libertad docked at the Ghanaian port of Temma, they never expected to stay for so long. At the request of NML Capital, a Cayman Islands-based hedge fund tied to Paul Singer’s Elliott Capital, a court in the capital city of Accra granted an injunction that forced the vessel to remain at port until a commercial dispute was settled.

Nine days later, the judge Richard Adjei Frimpong dismissed a motion by the Argentine state to free the vessel on the grounds that it counted with diplomatic immunity, according to AFP. The court sided with NML, which has gone to great lengths in their attempts to extract full compensation from the Argentine government in the aftermath of the largest sovereign debt default ever in which Buenos Aires reneged payment on approximately $100 billion in sovereign debt. Elliott Capital, via NML, was awarded $1.6 billion in restitution by U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in New York, and the Ghanaian court was upholding that ruling.

Singer’s so-called “vulture funds” have pursued Argentine assets across the globe. Beyond following the Libertad’s path closely, Elliott’s NML has sought to seize the Argentine presidential plane, the Tango 01. Argentina’s Air Force One, a Boeing 757/200, was grounded on at least two occasions after authorities warned Buenos Aires that the plane would be seized upon landing (in the U.S. and in Germany). Elliott has even gone after Argentina’s foreign exchange reserves held at the NY Fed.

More at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2012/10/11/no-liberty-for-libertad-argentinas-battle-with-hedge-fund-billionaire-for-navy-vessel-continues/?partner=yahootix