Banadir Regional Court has ordered the Ministry of Finance not to release US$9.6 million to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Chairman of the Banadir Regional Court wrote a letter addressed to the finance minister on this issue.
He also copied the letter to the Governor of the Somalia Central Bank.
In 2018, government officials seized $9.6 million from a UAE plane at the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu.
At the time, the Somali government was convinced that UAE intended to finance instability in the East African nation.
Recently, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble apologized to the UAE for the actions of the Somali government.
He also assured UAE that Somalia would return the money.
However, the regional court has now stopped any refund.
It ordered officials to wait until authorities complete investigations into the issue before deciding whether UAE deserves the refund.