Should I Take Gaddafi`s Millions?
In the early months of the 2011 Libyan Revolution the United Nations voted to recognize the National Transitional Council (NTC), the forces opposing Gaddafi, as holding Libya's seat at the United Nations.
One of the functions of this interim administration was to oversee the various bank and trust accounts of the former Libyan dictator which ran into the tens of billions of dollars. Good to be a Arab dictator - until of course someone deposes you.
The formation of the NTC was announced in the city of Benghazi on 27 February 2011. One day later, the US froze over 30 billion dollars in Libyan assets in US banks (1). Weeks later, the Brits and the European Union did likewise.
The Republic of Malta also froze the bank accounts of the Libyan government including assets belonging to the Gaddafi family, worth over a 100 million dollars, and in September of 2011, a month before the death of Muammar Gaddafi, asked the NTC to appoint a new trust manager in order to help unfreeze the account (2).
I recently received a Nigerian 419 Scam email (3) referencing the Malta request above and asking me to help a bank staffer in Malta move sixty five million dollars from Muammar al-Qaddafi’s Trust Fund account to America for which I would receive a 25% fee, amounting to 16.25 million dollars, for my troubles. What an idiot! I would gladly do it for only a 1% fee, or 650,000 dollars.
The usual Nigerian scam emails I receive are rather lazy affairs asking me to help get $30 million through the wife of Nigeria’s former Army chief of staff or some such, without too much creativity. This one at least points to an actual news story.
But then I wonder: suppose it's true - I could be rich.
ENDNOTES
(1):
Washington Post, U.S. freezes Libyan assets, takes steps to aid refugees
"As of today, at least $30 billion in government of Libya assets under U.S. jurisdiction have been blocked," David Cohen, Treasury's acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in Washington. "This is the largest blocking under any sanctions program ever."
The action was taken under an executive order issued Friday by President Obama. The order covers assets belonging to longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, four of his children, the Libyan government and its entities, such as the Libyan Central Bank and the Libyan Investment Authority.
(2):
Times of Malta, Government wants Libyan TNC to change trust fund managers
A banker shows 50 Libyan dinar bank notes bearing the portrait of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli yesterday as people are refusing to use the bills and the banks are collecting them and returning them to the central bank.
Photo Credit: Patrick Baz/AFP
The [Maltese] government has asked Libya’s Transitional National Council to change the Libyan government’s representatives on trust funds in Malta as a way of speeding up the unfreezing of Libyan assets in Malta.
Foreign Minister Tonio Borg told The Times Business: “These frozen assets of the Libyan government are not just in accounts but in trusts, in different shapes and forms, so the question of the trust manager arises. It is important for the Transitional National Council, the new Libyan government, to change its representatives on these trust funds as that would help unfreeze its assets.”
Dr Borg said the Transitional National Council is insisting on the immediate releasing of these funds, worth €291 million and he “could understand this” but these legal difficulties are being faced by all the countries, including the US and UK.
Dr Borg added that Malta still needed a United Nations Security Council resolution to allow the unblocking of Libyan assets in Malta.
“We need a UN Security Council resolution to delist certain entities and that would make it much easier for the release of the frozen assets. As long as these remain on the ‘frozen’ list we can’t release these assets. We are exerting pressure on the Security Council members – a team from our mission to the UN is monitoring the situation – to delist certain entities such as for example the Central Bank of Libya, and that would facilitate the release of these funds,” he said.
Dr Borg said the question over assets belonging to the Gaddafi family in Malta, worth €86 million, was being looked into by the Attorney General. “The difficulty is as long as these fall under the EU and UN sanctions we can’t release them, and who do we release them to? Of course we can’t release them to members of the family and we can only release them to the new government if authorised by the UN or EU. This is much more complicated because the title holder is not the state,” he said.
(3):
I am a Staff of one of the leading Bank in Malta and a Private Financial consultant. I am writing following an opportunity in my office that will be of immense benefit to both of us. I have been a Private Trust Fund Manager to one of the Muammar al-Qaddafi’s Trust Fund Accounts here in Malta, a foundation owned by the late Libyan Dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi.
Malta is a country 221.11 Miles from Tripoli, Libya and most African Government Officials always used Malta as their safe haven for enormous offshore banking and then secretly appointing a Banker or Financial Consultant, popularly known as Bank Officer to take charge of this Trust Account in case of any need for urgent cash without their presence at the bank, the account manager has the Power to act and carry out transactions from the accounts based on a written instruction from the account beneficiary with a secret code known only by the Account Officer and the Beneficiary.
I was given a written instruction by Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi to move USD 65,000,000.00 (Sixty Five Million United States Dollars) from the Muammar al-Qaddafi’s Trust Fund account via safe bank deposit box to China for the purchase of Arms and Ammunition to aid him in the Libyan Civil war of which the negotiation was in progress.
All arrangement for the movement of this cash was already in place when I learnt of the death of Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi in the city of Sirte, Libya. I then immediately stopped all negotiations on the arms purchase and deposited the funds into a Private Vault and Safe Deposit Box Management Company. I am presently affected by the Maltese civil service code of conduct that prohibits civil servants from operating foreign accounts; hence I seek for an honest and trustworthy individual to stand as my foreign partner in moving these funds out of Malta for investment purpose.
Presently, the existence of this money is unknown to any body and is backed up by a Certificate of Clean fund issued by the Maltese Government absolving the money from drugs or money laundering activities. I find it necessary to invest this money offshore in viable business ventures through your company or your personal guidance and assistance. I have worked on the whole arrangement and only expect your favourable response to put the machinery into motion that will further our mutual personal and business relationship.
Please read [LINK] To understand my urgent need to move these funds out of Malta.
I am contactable on the telephone number or email address provided below for more details about the whole deal which it is absolutely smooth and will ensure no delay, all that is needed is to work together in mutual
understanding.I await your esteemed response while counting on your sense of confidentiality, as it is my desire for this to be done as directly as possible. I will offer you 25% of the total money and the remaining 75% will be for my investment in your country.
This is a deal and I would appreciate if we keep it that way, in any case you are not interested then do not bother responding, just ignore the conversation.
Thanks for your time.
Best Regards
Mr Bernard Attard
Tel: +356 3550 0071
Mailto: b.attard@consultant.com
