The Telegraph
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.
Found by Cinàedh.
I was surprised to hear the Swiss Banks had seized his assets. Haven’t heard how much $$ though. Makes sense on reflection that they would seize his accounts after he emptied them.
Chris Hedges made a good comment on Book TV last weekend to the point that only “the worst” people hold political office. He said Obama was (something like ineffectual) while Bush was venal. Mubarak is of course a corrupt tyrant giving only as much FREEEEEDOM as he must to keep his military henchmen quiescent.
If there is any “justice” in this world, EGYPT in cooperation with some UN/World court/entity will sue Mubarak for return of all funds possible to get: and that should be sizeable. Course, if the UN is no better than the US Justice Departments efforts against Madoff, then only cents on the dollar.
Make me think there is a good use for those islands in the shape of the World off Dubai: use each island to “ensconce” the deposed dictators of the world. Yes–you get to live. You get this fantastic house on your own tropical island. But that is all you get. Maybe too much, but better than the undefined hide and don’t even seek that goes on today.
Say Animby==you’ve had some time to think about things. Reviewing the tyranny of the past 30 years, still think Mubarak was ((use your own term)) just because there are areas of the world far worse==or how would you balance these things now?
Is the revolution in Thailand still going on? Amusing there was almost no news at all on these goings on except for how some Brit Tourists couldn’t confirm their vacation plans.
Ha, ha. Stupid World.
Of course he did… Just think how much he would have squirreled away if he stayed longer!
What do I do with Hosni Mubarak? Should he have an “accident” or should I give him another 10 years of looking over his shoulder wondering if he’ll be next, as members of his extended family get picked off one by one? Hmmm… that would be fun to watch, not as fun as watching a 9 year old drown in a neighbors pool, or giving cancer to a young mother of three children… but fun.
But, I also should give him credit for being so clever and getting away with it. Just think of all the suffering he has caused, all the good things that money could have been used for. Egypt would have been a very prosperous country, if it weren’t for him. I’ve played table tennis with more than twelve thousand souls, all courtesy of Hosni Mubarak’s existence.
I already Know what I’m going to do of course, but pondering is so enjoyable. I love being God and I love Me. Oddly, that sentiment has been translated to mean that I’m an all loving God. Oh well. that’s not My problem.
He was America’s favorite tyrant and now discarded to just another Facebook friend of Cheney and Bush. 🙁
If Israel wants to keep on civil terms with the new management, perhaps they might be persuaded to help? I believe they have an experienced team recently back from the Gulf…
I’ve heard before that total outstanding national debt from developing countries is roughly equal to flight capital from same.
While watching a bunch of the talking head shows on Fri night I was genuinely shocked to hear everyone taking credit for this. It was Reagan’s shining example to the world, or the educated people rising up against an over-militarized and corrupt state.
Everybody ought to be very careful before rushing to embrace these developments. Egypt isn’t magically going to get any new jobs for its over-educated workforce. Really think investors are going think more highly of a North African state that has just had a revolution?
Also consider that this originally sparked off due to reports that Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria had provided support to US anti-terror programs.
All that post-911 pressure on off shore banks to disclose laundering and secret redirection of funds in Arab states? Let me guess, this was known about and approved?
I would have just shuffled the cabinet instead of resigning.
“if there is any “justice” in this world” keep dreaming.
It sure seems like most of Mubarak’s Fortune would have to be American tax dollars, wouldn’t it?
Shouldn’t American politicians be screaming bloody murder (somehow apropos) to get it back?
My bet? None of them will demand a single dollar. After all, none of it was their money – or even corporate money – so who cares?
Good for him. Anybody here would do the same. Anybody.
#13–Six Half Shots==Not at all. In a parallel universe, I’d love to be a dictator of a country. Be benevolent and do what’s right for the country. As such, first thing I’d do is resign.
You can’t be a dictator and think you are “good” in any sense of the word. Animby should be thinking about that right now, but we shall see.
People are too self centered not to blame other people for every ill imagined or otherwise, so what to do? Thats right. Have the people in charge so they can only blame themselves.
Any democratic government you vote for is a sham.
Pick the names out of a phone book and throw them out after four years, or be lube your mother-fuckin’ ass.
Democracy is tyranny of the masses.
As long as it not the tyranny of the oligarchy you’re ahead of the game.
Fascism under this kind of a political structure is tolerable.
This way nobody get threatened.
I wonder how much he lost in the stock market crash of ’08 😉
#1 based on the amount of wealth that they seem to have accumulated in office I’d have to put both Bushes as among our least venal politicians. I’m not aware of anything that would suggest to me that they used their offices to make vast fortunes. They were rich going in due to oil money and they are rich now but not fantastically richer.
On the other hand I can’t come up with a rational and legal explanation of how people like Gore, Clinton, and even Obama got their hands on their present wealth.
1873 Colt said:
“Good for him. Anybody here would do the same. Anybody.”
I’d like to think not.
At 82 years old, how is he going to go through 70 billion in his lifetime?
And yet, he has to rip off the museum on his way out!?
I’d like to think it takes a rare bird to be that greedy.
Though Dick Cheney is in the same league.
And yes, Mr. American Tax-Payer, that was your money.
But you can thank God that that lunatic, Rand Paul, will never be allowed to cut foreign aid from the Federal budget.
Of course, we probably borrowed that money, so you will be paying interest on it for the rest of your life…..
Does this mean they are no longer calling for reparations from Israel for all the gold the Jews took with them on Exodus?
-well now, considering our pols use their entire time in power to “secure” their wealth, i’d say this guy is step above the rest.. -har
-s
Reminds me of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. First Lady Imelda Marcos’ secretary owned a mansion in upstate New York. I’ve always wondered what was in the bags that he took to the airport. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes.
Before 2003, wasn’t the United States embassy in Egypt the largest U.S. embassy in the world? Egypt used to be the second largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid – a lot of that was probably military hardware i.e. tanks, planes, etc. Mubarak’s fortune was built up over decades.
#22
Actually, you miss the point. Blanket surveillance watches everyone. If Bush II was only getting terrorist info there would have been NO STORY.
sargasso_c raises an excellent point in #9.
#28
Yeah, Egypt was getting 1Bn in military aid per year from the US over a lot of years. Figure at least 15-20% of that was going as payouts to top people. That’s over 100m a year just from one, albeit very large, source.