Gaddafi’s son can get to family fortune
ITALY: Saif Gaddafi, the son of the late Libyan dictator, who was recently freed after being held by a militia for six years, has access to up to US$30 billion (NZ$41.2b) despite international efforts to freeze his family’s fortune, investigators say.
Saif, his father’s chosen successor before the family was ousted in a 2011 Nato-backed revolt, is understood to be in Libya after his release.
The United Nations Security Council, which is trying to trace billions of dollars allegedly looted by Muammar Gaddafi before he died, recently released a report warning that vast funds available to the Gaddafi family had yet to be seized.
It said it was investigating instances of ‘‘suspicious’’ financial transactions involving accounts linked to the former regime - much of it in the United Arab Emirates.
‘‘Out of the US$50 billion of stolen assets we believe to be in the UAE, Saif would have at least US$20 billion under his command with no problem,’’ said Abdelhamid alJadi, the investigator appointed by Libya’s transitional government to help with the asset hunt.
He said that although there had been media reports of asset freezes in the UAE, there was no evidence to prove they had been enforced.
Jadi said his team had tracked US$50b linked to 33 Gaddafi regime individuals in the Gulf nation that could be available to the surviving Gaddafi family members.
There were further funds in other Gulf countries where sanctions had not been imposed, he said.
Jadi said that even in Switzerland, where a UN asset freeze is in place, Saif could have access to considerable sums via a network of interlinked accounts that the family still used. If that was the case, there could be as much as US$30b of assets at Saif’s disposal.
- The Times