In 2017, about one billion Libyan dinars were lost from the money deposited in the Central Bank of Libya in Benghazi, and there were conflicting statements about who was responsible for their disappearance.
However, the report of the United Nations Group of Experts on Libya subsequently revealed that the 106 militia affiliated with Saddam, Haftar’s son had seized this huge money from the bank’s branch in Benghazi.
The team confirmed that the value that was stolen from the treasury contained more than 600 million Libyan dinars, more than 159 million euros, more than one million dollars, and nearly 6 thousand silver coins.
The report confirmed severe pressure exerted on the directors of the Central Bank in Benghazi from leaders affiliated with Haftar, to obtain bank notes and letters of credit, indicating that some of them decided to leave the country for security reasons.
Justify theft
The parallel central governor, Ali Al-Hebri, stated at the time that the money that was in the Central Bank in Benghazi throughout the war in the city was destroyed by the sewage water that entered the bank.
Al-Hebri added that they destroyed millions of them and sold 26 million euros out of a total of 45 million euros, because it was contaminated with types of bacteria as a result of sewage water that flooded it in the central bank, he said.
However, the report of the expert group confirmed that Al-Hebri’s statements were contradictory and incomplete at the time.
Rottten Papers
Recently, Radio France International revealed in a report that a French couple had been arrested in possession of 20 thousand euros of “rotten” banknotes looted from the Central Bank of Libya in Benghazi in 2017.
The report revealed – according to the radio website – that Haftar’s son Saddam was the one who stole this money, and ordered its transfer to an unknown place with the help of his followers under strict security protection, noting that it is not the first time that “Saddam” has been accused of robbing a bank, as he did so in Tripoli in 2011.
Smuggling of gold
In the same context, Radio France International stated that Haftar, his sons and some of the officers close to him are using the private plane Falcon-900 in trading, money laundering and smuggling Libyan gold.
The radio said in a report that Haftar’s private plane landed twice in Turkey and the UAE last July, to exchange gold bars for US dollars in order to finance and preserve the military entity that he established in eastern Libya.
The radio added that Saddam is known for selling scrap and oil illegally to Turkey, according to a report by the United Nations expert committee, and he has gained one billion and 500 million Turkish liras from smuggling, while most of the deals pass through UAE banks.
Italian warning
The Italian Central Bank warned all its branches against receiving the huge sums that arrived from the Central Bank of Libya branch in Benghazi. Which was stolen by Haftar’s son, Saddam.
The Italian newspaper “Il Tempo” quoted the Italian bank as saying that there are internal communications going on to find out how the looted funds from Benghazi Bank reached some of its branches, explaining that these funds coming from Benghazi Bank, some of them damaged and some stolen.
The newspaper indicated that the bank warned against trying to change this currency in Italy, and that it is impossible to know the amount of stolen or damaged money, indicating that the European Central Bank requested the cooperation of the Italian Central Bank to track bonds of between 100 and 200 thousand euros, which would have been removed by the security teams Affiliated to the Central Bank of Benghazi during the war.
