As Libya takes stock, Moammar Kadafi's hidden riches astound (>$200 B)

[FarCenter]

Reporting from Washington— Moammar Kadafi secretly salted away more than $200 billion in bank accounts, real estate and corporate investments around the world before he was killed, about $30,000 for every Libyan citizen and double the amount that Western governments previously had suspected, according to senior Libyan officials.

The new estimates of the deposed dictator's hidden cash, gold reserves and investments are "staggering," one person who has studied detailed records of the asset search said Friday. "No one truly appreciated the scope of it."

If the values prove accurate, Kadafi will go down in history as one of the most rapacious as well as one of the most bizarre world leaders, on a scale with the late Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire or the late Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-kadafi-money-20111022,0,5740812.story

---

Moammar was in the 1%.

[Scuba]

1. Wonder how much went to promoting Republicans through the Nat'l Chamber of Commerce?

[tabatha]

2. Moammar was in the 1%.

That is exactly a point I have been making - the US is trending Gaddafi; all the money on the top; the rest poor.

[True Earthling]

3. But all Libyans got free electricity and cheap gas...what's the problem?

[Kaleva]

4. And now his body is on displaylaying on the floor of a cold room.

[Prometheus Bound]

5. They don't seem to have been hidden and they don't seem to have been Gaddafy's

From the article. No clarification on the final sentence. I conclude this is more propaganda. Takes attention away from the war crimes committed by the good guys.

Most of the money was under the name of government institutions such as the Central Bank of Libya, the Libyan Investment Authority, the Libyan Foreign Bank, the Libyan National Oil Corp. and the Libya African Investment Portfolio. But investigators said Kadafi and his family members could access any of the money if they chose to.

[polly7]

20. Yes, I've read that also.

One major positive of the gaddafi Gov't - it did not squander the nation's wealth, but made prudent investments - turned into yet another selling propaganda slant - "200 Billion personal fund" - when all these assets were held in the name of the Libyan Investment Authority or similar national government agencies.

Libya was one of the few resource rich African countries where the wealth was not being syphoned into western multinational entities and private bank accounts.

Absolutely he gained great personal wealth, but he also invested Libya's money wisely and provided the Libyan people with a better standard of living and social programs than anywhere else in the region.

‘The Libyan monarchy of Idris, which was based in Benghazi, was installed by the United States and British in the 1950’s to oversee their economic and military interests in North Africa. Libya in 1951, under the leadership of King Idris, officially had the lowest standards of Living in the world. The Idris monarchy was overthrown in a bloodless revolution led by Muammar al-Gaddafi in 1969. This led to the American Wheelus Air Base (The largest American base outside of US at that time) being dismantled and the American and British armed forces stationed in Libya evacuating. The western oil companies were then nationalised.’

http://globalciviliansforpeace.com/tag/king-idris/

[polly7]

21. Just to add to my post above:

Even the "news" articles admit that the funds are Gov investments not personal

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/kadafi-bank-account-200-billion-hidden-cash-asset-search.html

"Most of the money was under the name of government institutions such as the Central Bank of Libya, the Libyan Investment Authority, the Libyan Foreign Bank, the Libyan National Oil Corp. and the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio.

But investigators said Kadafi and his family members could have had access to any of the money if they chose to."


Oil production in Libya before the Gaddafi revolution was greater than after, but almost no investment went into Libya from these funds.

Nigeria and South Africa provide stark contrast to Libya.

Although Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa, the largest producer is Nigeria, producing twice as much as Libya, yet 70 percent of the Nigerian population lives in poverty and the country operates under crushing international debt, which much federal revenue is dedicated to servicing.

In South Africa, a century of exploitation of its vast wealth in gold and diamonds left Anglo American Corp and the finance houses of England and Holland with vast wealth, but delivered $18 Billion of debt to the post-apartheid government.

In contrast, post-Gaddafi Libya is left with hundreds of billions in surplus wealth and the gratitude of developing countries across the continent.

[L. Coyote]

6. And, in whose hands will much of the secret wealth fall?

[TheWraith]

8. Rather obviously, it'll belong to the new government. nt

[izquierdista]

10. Rather obviously, Goldman Sachs will have their eye on it.

Because only they know how to manage sums of money like that.

[TheWraith]

15. Rather obviously, the conspiracy theorists will start to imagine all sorts of baseless crap.

Hey, facts are overrated.

[TheWraith]

7. Hell, he was in the 0.001%.

Put it this way: he was worth four times as much as the Koch brothers, put together. If he'd lived in the US, he would be the richest man in the country with more than triple the wealth of Bill Gates. He had more money than Gates, Buffett, Ellison, and the Koch brothers put together. And every single dime looted, one way or another, from the Libyan people over the course of 40 years in power. That's an annual "intake" of $5 billion a year.

[bhikkhu]

9. No wonder that he and his family were dug in like ticks

...that makes them about the richest people on the planet.

Representative democracy works better, and government where the people are the ultimate owners. I think term limits are an essential balancing force, and 8 years is plenty for anyone to be in charge anywhere.

[JCMach1]

22. Although they could easily have enjoyed those riches in exile...

instead..., meet the butcher floor.

[lunatica]

11. The things that are going to be coming out about him will digust us

After the story of the nanny who his son's wife burned and abandoned and the stories of his all female body guard contingency's treatment I expect there will be a lot of disgusting stories about him an his family. Just like Saddam's sons.

[HipChick]

14. His all female body guard already came out and said they were raped repeatedly

by him, and his sons, and passed from official to official

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/gaddafis-female-bodyguards-say-they-were-raped-abused-by-the-libyan-leader/2011/08/29/gIQA8TOKnJ_blog.html

[TheWraith]

17. Maybe.

But of all the stories circulating, that strikes me as harder to believe than most, on the simple grounds that repeatedly raping and abusing someone who is constantly near your person, usually armed, is a good way to get yourself murdered.

[HipChick]

18. In that case, he would have been dead long ago..

[ellisonz]

19. Not when the threat is against your family...

...besides - do we have any evidence the guns were actually loaded and not just for display?

[kentuck]

12. You would have thought....

He would have had a secret helicopter pad to take him to his private plane that could take him to his own private island with his own private harem of 72 virgins and the best wine and cheese with that kind of money...

[customerserviceguy]

13. Believed too much of his own BS

That separates the smart ones (the Baby Docs) from the stupid ones.

[TheWraith]

16. I would imagine so. He couldn't let go of the ego trip.

With that kind of money available, he could have lost 99% of it in the process of escaping, and still been one of the wealthier people on the planet.

[justiceischeap]

23. This means Libya should have no problem paying the US back the $1.6B promised

us for fuel.