Tyrant's bid to safeguard his billions Wealthy: Muammar Gaddafi has had 40 years to squirrel away his estimated £60bn fortune

V for victory: Regime change protesters gesture from the top of an armoured vehicle in the eastern Libyan town of Shahat

24th February 2011
By Liz Hazelton
Daily Mail (UK)

Colonel Gaddafi was yesterday desperately trying to safeguard his multi-billion pound fortune – including a large amount invested in Britain.

Sources in both London and Tripoli confirmed that the Libyan leader wants the cash for his family’s use, whether or not he is toppled.

‘Money set aside for Gaddafi and his nine children is in bank accounts and property across the world, and almost all of it comes from Libya’s enormous oil and energy wealth,’ said one.

‘The Gaddafis have hidden it away in a series of bank accounts in places like Dubai, meaning that even if they lose power they will technically be able to use it.’

Analysts have identified a gap of several billion dollars a year between government spending and the amount of money Libya generates from oil. It is thought that the surplus has been used to make Gaddafi and his children extremely wealthy.

Suspicions are mounting that most of the cash is hidden away in banks in the Gulf and in south-east Asia.

The source works closely with the Libyan Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund which manages some £50billion.

Measures taken by Gaddafi to preserve his personal wealth include putting the control of accounts into the names of paid benefactors in other countries, said a Tripoli-based source.

Assets have also been hidden using a range of offshore accounts and companies which do not contain the Gaddafi name in any of their records.

The source said: ‘The key to all of this is secrecy and close confidantes. Gaddafi has had more than 40 years to hide money away, and to make sure that trustworthy money men can help him access it.

‘Gaddafi knows that contacts around the world will help him keep hold of his money, as long as they are richly rewarded. When you are dealing with a multi-billion pound portfolio, this is easily done.’

The General is thought to be worth anything up to £60billion.

Last year the LIA opened a new HQ next door to the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square in London’s Mayfair.

It also bought millions of pounds worth of property in the City of London, including Portman House in Oxford Street for £155million, and a building opposite the Bank of England for £120million.

Other investments in the UK include an eight-bedroom home in Hampstead, North London, with a swimming pool and suede-lined cinema room. It was bought by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader’s second son, in 2009 for £10million.

The LIA has also invested in companies such as the Pearson Group, owner of the Financial Times.

The huge investment by the LIA coincided with a cooling of diplomatic tensions with Britain folowing the freeing of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi.

If Gaddafi’s regime does collapse, there will be concern among some 150 British companies which have established a presence in Libya since the U.S. and Europe lifted economic sanctions in 2004.

Companies include oil giants such as BP for whom Tony Blair brokered a deal in 2007, allowing it to search offshore and onshore for natural fuel.

High street retailers including Marks & Spencer, Next, Monsoon and Accessorize have also set up in the country to serve the growing middle-class population.

In all, British exports to Libya have soared to about £100million in recent years.

Saif Al-Said last year told the Daily Mail that Mr Blair had become an ‘advisor’ to the LIA – an allegation which the former Prime Minister denied.