Brussels, 4 May:
Muammar Qaddafi possibly laundered money using Libya’s embassy in Belgium prior to last year’s revolution, it emerged today.
“It’s more . . .[restrict]than a suspicion”, Jean-Claude Delepiere, president of the Belgian Financial Intelligence Processing Unit, told Reuters.
He declined to give more information although he indicated that the anti-fraud watchdog knew more about the money than it was disclosing publicly.
In its annul report, it said that the Libyan treasury transferred about €1.5 million to its embassy in Brussels, which was then mostly withdrawn in cash. The agency believes the money may have originated from Libyan organisations controlled by Qaddafi’s family.
The watchdog came upon the information after they searched the financial accounts of the embassy following a tip-off from banks.
It is reckoned that in the 10 years before he was overthrown, $150 billion of Libyan oil money went missing and still remains to be accounted for. [/restrict]
