Egypt | Hosni Mubarak's rush to hide billions of dollars
CAIRO: Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his fortune into untraceable accounts, Western intelligence sources said.
The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing as much as $64 billion during his 30 years in power. It is believed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.
In another move, Egypt's chief prosecutor banned the sacked prime minister Ahmed Nazif from leaving the country the day after Mr Mubarak was overthrown.
The prosecutor also banned the widely despised former interior minister Habib al-Adly from travelling and froze his assets on Saturday, the state news agency MENA said.
In the knowledge that his downfall was imminent, Mr Mubarak was 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 Mr Mubarak and his family may hold in the country's banks, while pressure was growing for Britain to do the same.
A senior Western intelligence source said Mr 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. 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,'' the source said.
Demands were growing among protesters in Cairo on Saturday night for Mr Mubarak, who was at his family villa in the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh, to be put on trial for corruption.
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 said Mr Mubarak was being treated with respect.
During the protests last week, Ibrahim Yousri, a former deputy foreign minister, and 20 lawyers petitioned Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, the prosecutor-general, to put Mr Mubarak and his family on trial for stealing state wealth.
''There's no doubt there will have been some frantic financial activity behind the scenes,'' a US official said.
''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 already have considerable investments.
The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have frequently been mentioned as likely destinations for Mr Mubarak and possibly his family.
Reports from Egypt suggest Mr 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 Lloyds officials have so far found no evidence that Mr Mubarak had secret accounts with them.
Quite how much he has stashed away - and where it is hidden - is open to speculation.
His wife Suzanne is half-Welsh, while it is thought the couple's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, may even have British passports.
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Timeline
1975 Appointed vice president by President Anwar El Sadat.
1979 Involved in negotiations as Egypt and Israel sign the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country.
October 14, 1981 Becomes president after the assassination of Sadat by Islamist army officers.
1990 Iraq invades Kuwait. Mr Mubarak joins US-led forces in the first Gulf War.
1987, 1993 and 1999 Re-elected to second, third and fourth terms.
September 2005 Overwhelmingly re-elected to fifth term in first election with multiple candidates.
Telegraph, London, Agence France-Presse
