Telegraph: Hosni Mubarak Used Last 18 Days in Power to Secure His Fortune

Ha! Of course he did, and now we know the wishy-washy response of the Western leaders, most notably from the US, over the past 18 days was to give Mubarak long enough time to hide as much wealth as possible. A just reward, I suppose, for having been a good boy for 30 years for the West and their allies in Middle East.

From UK's Telegraph:

Egypt: Hosni Mubarak used last 18 days in power to secure his fortune (2/12/2011)

Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas, Western intelligence sources have said.

The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing a fortune of more than £3 billion - although some suggest it could be as much as £40 billion - during his 30 years in power. It is claimed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.

In the knowledge his downfall was imminent, Mr Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators.

On Friday night Swiss authorities announced they were freezing any assets Mubarak and his family may hold in the country's banks while pressure was growing for the UK to do the same. Mr Mubarak has strong connections to London and it is thought many millions of pounds are stashed in the UK.

But a senior Western intelligence source claimed that Mubarak had begun moving his fortune in recent weeks.

"We're aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets," said the source, "And we think their financial advisers have moved some of the money around. If he had real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now."

Ah. I just wonder who those astute financial advisers are.

I also wonder if there's any gold left in the central bank of Egypt. (Remember the wife of the Tunisian government, who grabbed 1.5 tonnes of gold from the central bank and ran?)

Tweet