General

Swiss freeze $1 billion worth of dictators’ assets

Mubarak, Gaddafi and Ben Ali among targets of sweep

Switzerland has frozen more than $1 billion in assets linked to current and former North African dictators. More than $450-million of the assets are believed to have been illegally obtained by former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his acolytes. Another $398 million was linked to Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. Some $66 million was controlled by Tunisia’s former dictator, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Switzerland agreed to freeze suspect funds in February, but only announced the figure today. A government official told the BBC that no alternate regime has provided enough evidence for the money to be returned.

BBC News

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
FILED UNDER: