Zain Iraq faces bank account freeze in order to prompt fine payment

Bloomberg News reports that Zain Iraq has had its funds seized in all Iraqi banks until it pays a US$262 million fine for selling five million SIM cards without permission, Iraq’s telecommunications regulator said.

“We have warned them to pay the fine,” Ahmad Al Omari, a member of the Communications and Media Commission’s trustee board, said. “This procedure has been carried out as a punishment.”

The commission said on its website in February 2011 that the fine was imposed on Zain for putting five million SIM cards on the local market without permission. Zain Group said at the time that it did not know why Iraq’s media and telecommunications regulator had imposed the fine.