A newly released document shows that an associate of late US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had outlined plans to pursue access to Libya’s frozen state assets, including seeking potential support from former British and Israeli intelligence officials.
The tranche of documents released by the United States Department of Justice on Friday included an email sent to Epstein that outlines what the sender described as financial and legal opportunities linked to political and economic uncertainty in Libya at the time.
The email dated July 2011 was sent several months after a NATO-backed uprising against then Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi began. Gaddafi was killed by Libyan rebels in October of the same year.
According to the email, about $80bn in Libyan funds were believed to be frozen internationally, including roughly $32.4bn in the US.
“And it is estimated that the real number is somewhere between three to four times this number in sovereign, stolen and misappropriated assets,” the email states, adding that “if we can identify/recover 5 percent to 10 percent of these monies and receive 10 percent to 25 percent as compensation we are talking about billions of dollars”.
The sender also said certain former members of Britain’s foreign intelligence service, MI6 and Israel’s external intelligence agency, Mossad, had expressed a willingness to assist in efforts to identify and recover “stolen assets”.
The email also referenced expectations that Libya would need to spend at least $100bn in the future on reconstruction and economic recovery.
United Arab Emirates Dirham Exchange Rate
