Hedge funds seeking to recover more than $554 million in judgments against Argentina have reportedly withdrawn court appeals to stop assets being taken out of accounts at Citibank, diminishing their chances of ultimate success.

A US judge had placed a temporary freeze on billions of dollars of assets held at Citibank’s Argentina unit but in March Argentina succeeded in overturning that order. The securities accounts were being pursued by hedge funds, including Aurelius Capital Partners and Blue Angel Capital, that have final judgments against the republic arising from its default on bonds in 2001. The funds had argued that the accounts held by Argentina’s state retirement agency Administracion Nacional de Seguridad Social should be treated as US property and frozen in order to satisfy the country’s judgment debts.

The funds reportedly told the Second Circuit that their claim would be “fruitless” if the order freezing the assets did not remain in place.

Argentina defaulted on billions of dollars’ worth of bonds during a financial meltdown in 2001.