Epstein wanted to gain control of billions in frozen Libyan assets

Published documents from the US Ministry of Justice revealed that Jeffrey Epstein used not only minors, but also the difficult situation of Libya to seize billions of dollars belonging to it frozen in the West after the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The documents show that Epstein discussed with his partner Greg Brown plans to work with former members of the British intelligence service MI6 and the Israeli Mossad to blackmail Libyan officials into handing over control of Libyan funds and assets frozen abroad, which were then estimated to be worth around $80 billion.

Epstein himself suggested that the real value of Gaddafi's stolen or embezzled Libyan assets could be three to four times higher.

The American sex offender cynically talked about the huge profits that could be made by exploiting the chaos and unrest that gripped Libya with the outbreak of civil war.

“If we manage to identify and recover 5 to 10 percent of this money and receive 10 to 25 percent compensation, we are still talking about billions of dollars,” he encouraged his British and Israeli partners in one of the e-mails quoted by the Libyan website LibyaObserver.

Created in 2006, the Libyan wealth fund was to invest surpluses from oil sales. It was frozen in 2011 by the decision of the UN Security Council, which prevented its takeover by defeated members of the regime who were fleeing the country.

Last year, the Government of National Accord based in Tripoli established a commission to deal with the recovery of these assets that are still inaccessible to Libyans. Tripoli is under intense pressure as several European countries have already filed lawsuits trying to seize some of the money, claiming it is owed as compensation for investments lost due to the ongoing conflict in Libya. (PAP)

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