What Happens To The Billions Mubarak And His Family Stole?

Two autocracies have fallen in North Africa, Tunisia's and Egypt's. Down With Tyranny! Tremors are being felt all over the world, particularly the Muslim world, although I loved that the right-wing regime in the U.K. was forced to make a U-turn on selling off the country's forests after protests looked like they could threaten David Cameron's battered government coalition, and the developing situation in Wisconsin is looking promising in terms of forcing puffed up twerp Scott Walker to back down on draconian plans to take away human rights from unionized public sector workers. But in Iran, things don't look as hopeful.

There won't be a government overthrow in Iran, like the ones in Tunisia and Egypt. It's not that the majority of Iranians are not angry at the religious dictatorship that has been running the country since the 1980s. It's just that not enough Iranians are willing to risk their lives to change the government. Instead, getting out of the country is seen as a more likely (and less dangerous) path to freedom and prosperity. Three decades of such emigration has deprived Iran of many entrepreneurs and educated specialists. Meanwhile, the government remains in power because it has hundreds of thousands of armed followers who are willing to kill, and die, to keep the religious dictatorship in power. As long as that force, the Revolutionary Guard, is around, so will the government survive.

The brutal monarchy in Bahrain and the military dictatorships in Yemen and Libya are also using armed regime thugs to terrorize (and murder) peaceful protesters. Although the whip-brandishing assholes on camels made for compelling TV, when the military wouldn't follow his orders to shoot down demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square, Mubarak's days were numbered. They gave him enough time to get his affairs in order, although it now seems that he may conveniently die while under virtual house arrest in his Sharm el Sheikh palace.

Yesterday the NY Times reported that Switzerland has located some of Mubarak's assets, as Egypt seeks to repatriate billions of dollars in stolen wealth and the debate begins over whether Mubarak will be tried. The bulk of the stolen wealth won't be repatriated and Mubarak won't be tried; there's too much complicity among Egypt's still in control ruling elite. And Mubarak used those two-and-a-half weeks from the time Egypt's 80 million people told him they'd had enough of his brutal kleptocracy until he finally passed on the baton to the military to secure his family's ill-gotten three decades of gains.

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.

In the knowledge his downfall was imminent, Mr Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators.

On Friday night Swiss authorities announced they were freezing any assets Mubarak and his family may hold in the country's banks while pressure was growing for the UK to do the same. Mr Mubarak has strong connections to London and it is thought many millions of pounds are stashed in the UK.

But a senior Western intelligence source claimed that Mubarak had begun moving his fortune in recent weeks.

"We're aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets," said the source, "And we think their financial advisers have moved some of the money around. If he had real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now."... [D]emands were growing among protesters in Cairo last night for Mr Mubarak to be put on trial for corruption.

The former president was at his family villa in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh. There were unconfirmed reports that he was effectively under house arrest, as the focus of protesters moved from toppling the hated ruler to seizing his fortune, although the army's ruling council which is in charge of the country pending its transition to democracy said Mr Mubarak was being treated with due respect.

During the protests last week, former deputy foreign minister Ibrahim Yousri and 20 lawyers petitioned Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, Egypt's prosecutor general, to put Mr Mubarak and his family on trial for stealing state wealth.

...A US official told the Sunday Telegraph: "There's no doubt that there will have been some frantic financial activity behind the scenes. They can lose the homes and some of the bank accounts, but they will have wanted to get the gold bars and other investments to safe quarters."

The Mubaraks are understood to have wanted to shift assets to Gulf states where they have considerable investments already-- and, crucially, friendly relations. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have frequently been mentioned as likely final destinations for Mr Mubarak and possibly his family.

The UK Treasury said it would have the power to seize Mubarak's British assets if Egypt made a formal request-- and no order had yet been made.

But Lord Malloch-Brown, a former Labour foreign minister and former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, told the Sunday Telegraph: "When people are forced out of office, if they have money way beyond what they should have earned, then a country like Britain should freeze those assets pending a court action by the new government.

"Given his and his family's strong links to the UK, it is reasonable to assume at least some of his assets are here."

Reports emanating from Egypt claim that Mubarak had accounts with the Swiss bank UBS as well as with HBOS, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, which is 41 per cent owned by the British Government. But it is understood that Lloyds bank officials have so far found no evidence Mubarak had secret accounts with them.

Quite how much Mubarak has stashed away-- and where he has hidden that fortune-- in the past 30 years is open to speculation. His 69-year-old wife Suzanne Mubarak-- known in some circles as the Marie Antoinette of Egypt-- is half-Welsh while it is claimed the couple's two sons Gamal and Alaa may even have British passports.

Intelligence sources indicate that the Mubarak fortune may be most easily traced via the business dealings of Gamal Mubarak, 47.

He once lived in a six-storey house in Belgravia in central London and worked in banking before setting up an investment and consulting firm in London. He resigned as a director of the company 10 years ago.

The president made his two sons the "go to" men for any companies that sought to do business in Egypt.

Kefaya, an opposition coalition that emerged before the 2005 elections to oppose the then president and his plans to transfer power to Gamal, released a lengthy investigation into nepotism, corruption and abuse of power by the ex-president and his two sons.

It said it was routine for businesses to be required to hand a cut-- between 20 to 50 per cent-- to Gamal or Alaa simply to set up shop. Favoured entrepreneurs who worked with the brothers were given virtual monopolies in return.