Switzerland blocks Gaddafi assets

[Turborama]

Source: DPA Via Monsters & Critics

Feb 24, 2011, 18:15 GMT

Geneva - Switzerland's federal government on Thursday blocked all assets in the country owned by Libyan leader Moammer Gaddafi and his family.

Andre Simonazzi, the spokesman for the Swiss Federal Council, told the German Press Agency dpa the move was made with immediate effect.

It is not yet known if Gaddafi has any assets in Switzerland, but the government will investigate the possibility, Simonazzi added.

In 2008, a row broke out between Bern and Tripoli after the son of the Libyan leader, Hannibal Gaddafi, was arrested for abusing his servants at an upscale Geneva hotel.

Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1621828.php/Switzerland-blocks-Gaddafi-assets

[maddezmom]

1. Swiss Freeze Gadhafi's Assets

Swiss Freeze Gadhafi's Assets .Article Slideshow Interactive Graphics Comments (9) more in Europe ».EmailPrintSave This ↓ More.

By DEBORAH BALL And CASSELL BRYAN-LOW
ZURICH—The Swiss government ordered the country's banks to block any assets belonging to the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi, marking Bern's fourth such freeze in the last month involving assets that may belong to African and Middle Eastern leaders.

The freeze takes immediate effect and lasts for three years. It is designed to give the banks time to search for any deposits by Col. Gadhafi, members of his family and certain government ministers. The blocking order includes real estate and luxury goods and covers 29 people, including Col. Gadhafi's wife and children, a number of relatives of his wife and six government officials.

Switzerland, long considered a safe haven for illicit assets deposited by corrupt leaders and strongmen, has moved swiftly over the last month to block assets of leaders of the Ivory Coast, Tunisia and Egypt. It ordered a freeze of any assets belonging to the regimes of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and former Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, as well as Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to step down after an election which the outside world says he lost.

Mr. Gadhafi's regime is believed to have large assets around the world. Libya's sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority, has significant cash and other assets in the U.S. and the U.K., according to a diplomatic cable. The cable, dated Jan. 28, 2010, was made public by document-leaking website WikiLeaks and details discussions between the wealth fund's head and the U.S. ambassador in Tripoli.

more:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703408604576164544055339836.html

[Turborama]

3. Good updates, thanks. Question aimed at both of them. What happens to the liquid and 'solid' assets?

Does it all get handed over to the next person running the country?

I guess this is aimed at the seizing/freezing of assets in general, seeing as there are a few dictators' that are being seized/frozen now.

Also, this should be putting Switzerland to shame by highlighting how they are/have always been the banking capital of the world for brutal dictators.

[maddezmom]

2. Libya: Gaddafi's billions to be seized by Britain

The funds are expected to be seized within days. The Treasury is understood to have set up a unit to trace Col Gaddafi's assets in Britain, which are thought to include billions of dollars in bank accounts, commercial property and a £10 million mansion in London.

In total, the Libyan regime is said to have around £20 billion in liquid assets, mostly in London. These are expected to be frozen as part of an international effort to force the dictator from power.

A Whitehall source said: "The first priority is to get British nationals out of Libya. But then we are ready to move in on Gaddafi's assets, the work is under way. This is definitely on the radar at the highest levels."

Col Gaddafi was on Thursday accused of ordering the deaths of thousands of protesters, but he refused to surrender as Libya descended into civil war.

more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8346701/Libya-Gaddafis-billions-to-be-seized-by-Britain.html