More than $1 billion in cash, gold and diamonds believed looted by slain Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi may have been found stashed away in several South African banks, a local news agency reported Sunday.
Libyan investigators are working with the Arab League and Interpol to discuss locating, securing and repatriating the loot being held by four banks and two security companies in South Africa, according to the Sunday Times of South Africa.
The amount is only a fraction of the estimated $80 billion of Gadhafi’s foreign assets, the Sunday Times reported. Libyan authorities believe stolen assets are hidden around the world, Fox News reports.
Some of the information investigators are using to trace the funds is understood to have come from Libya’s former intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, who was arrested in March 2012 for crimes against humanity, the Sunday Times reports. He is in jail in Libya awaiting trial.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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