Mount Lebanon’s First Investigative Judge Nicolas Mansour has ordered the seizure of properties from Mahmoud Halawi, former head of the exchange dealers’ union, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The agency said the decision comes at the backdrop of violations to the exchange dealing law and amid speculative operations which led to the manipulation of the national currency rate.

No further details were provided.

The Lebanese pound is trading on Wednesday at 12,250/12,300 against the U.S. dollar on the black market, amid a months-long cabinet stalemate and complete financial meltdown.

Banks have blocked access to dollar deposits, and poverty is spreading but fractious politicians have yet to launch a rescue plan that could allow foreign aid into the country and ward off further economic collapse.

The pound remains pegged to the dollar at 1,507.5, but that rate fixed by the central bank remains available only for imports of wheat, medicine and fuel.