The Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper revealed that billions of dollars were hidden by the former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in Canadian bank accounts over his 4-decade long rule.
The Paper quoted informed sources as saying that Gaddafi used proxies, including Canadian agents, to open bank accounts in Canada, and fake companies on his behalf, to hide part of his smuggled wealth abroad.
The Globe and Mail also interviewed the former Libyan ambassador to Canada, Fathi Bajaa, who headed the Libyan delegation in Ottawa after the fall of the Gaddafi regime. Bajaa stated that Gaddafi had secretly withheld large sums of money in Canadian financial institutions, along with secret documents containing details of those accounts. The article in the Globe and Mail also quoted him mentioning that the documents include details of account numbers and other important information, which he is currently refusing to reveal to prevent corrupt usage of these resources.
Bajaa claimed that he is presently preserving those documents that prove the financial transactions that Gaddafi made to Canada, indicating that he intends to conceal those financial records for the time being, for fear of them falling into the wrong hands according to Bajaa.
The former diplomat mentioned that he plans to hand over these records after of a new government is established in Libya through democratic elections in the country, without disclosing any further details.
Libyan authorities are carrying out efforts to recover billions of dollars of assets abroad in different countries including Canada, which were transferred during the 42 years of Gaddafi’s rule, much of which have been frozen due to international sanctions.
Source: The Globe and Mail, Canada
