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# taz.de -- Between Libya and South Africa: Hunting Gaddafi's Gold
> Where is the dictator's treasure? Two Germans are searching for it. They
> have connections to right-wing extremists.
Bild: Libya's ex-dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi
The treasure we are talking about was stolen from the Libyan people.
Muammar al-Gaddafi, longtime dictator, amassed a huge fortune fed by the
continuous sale of oil. Before his death, he had money shipped abroad on
planes – billions of dollars.
Gaddafi died in 2011. A good chunk of his wealth is still stored in bank
accounts outside Libya, some of it frozen due to international sanctions,
some of it not. Another part is housed in vaults all over the world. Gold
bars, diamonds, dollar bills. An enormous treasure.
Where there is treasure, there are treasure hunters. We get a tip-off: Two
men from Germany are said to be secretly working on tracking down Libyan
assets abroad and taking them out of the countries where they are currently
stored. The men have dubious connections: Swedish neo-Nazis who fought as
mercenaries in eastern Ukraine, far-right preppers in Germany, hardcore
libertarians who reject the nation state. And they have good connections to
Libya, a country now scarred by civil war.
One of the men is a former policeman from the German state of
Baden-Württemberg, who worked, among other things, for a SWAT team.
Allegedly he has established a relationship with the Gaddafi family. The
other is an IT entrepreneur and consultant from around Munich, a busy
networker who does not fear getting in contact with the far-right.
We want to find out how these men are hunting for Gaddafi’s treasures and
on whose behalf. Their search raises a question: Who will receive this
money in the end? The Libyan government? Gaddafi’s Children? Someone else
entirely? A treasure like this falling into the wrong hands could cause a
lot of damage – far beyond Northern Africa.
In one week, the Gaddafi clan could return to power in Libya. The
presidential election is scheduled for the 24th of December, Gaddafi’s son
Saif al-Islam is running. If elected, he could in the future have access to
the frozen billions abroad. But so far, he apparently chose another way to
track down the hidden gold: treasure hunters.
Our search leads us to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, to Sweden, to Greece,
to Ukraine and to South Africa. We spoke to investigators and diplomats, to
people from the security industry and scientists. This story is a glimpse
into a shadow world worth billions.
## The Treasure
In the beginning of 2011, the Arab Spring reached Libya, an uprising and a
civil war followed. Many members of the Gaddafi family fled the country,
taking with them as many valuables as they could pack into their cars.
Finally, in October 2011, more than four decades of Gaddafi rule ended with
men from the revolutionary forces dragging the former dictator out of his
hiding place in a concrete pipe. He was shot dead.
The United Nations passed a resolution back in early 2011 stating that
foreign assets from Libya should be frozen worldwide. At the time, there
were talks of more than $60 billion – only a portion of the overall assets.
The transitional government that ruled over the country after overthrowing
Gaddafi, needed cash to rebuild the state. Some of the money can be
identified because it used to be an official state investment – it remains
however difficult to recover. Another part of Libya’s wealth must first be
tracked down, as assets are often disguised by complicated corporate
constructs and ostensible front men.
At this point, a process called asset recovery begins, to repatriate wealth
stolen by autocrats. Asset recovery is a very technical term. The idea
behind it: The recovered wealth of a country should benefit its citizens.
The obligation to repatriate stolen state assets is enshrined in the United
Nations Convention against Corruption. The World Bank conservatively
estimates that between 20 and 40 billion dollars are stolen each year
through corruption in countries of the global South and hidden abroad. But
only a fraction is eventually returned to its country of origin.
Switzerland, for example, has boasted about returning, since 1986, some 2
billion dollars to the countries they were taken from. Only 2 billion, that
is.
While asset recovery sounds great in theory, it rarely becomes concrete.
The United Nations Security Council has its own body that deals with Libyan
assets abroad: the Panel of Experts. Their job, among others: to track down
funds so they can be frozen. The repatriation itself is not a part of it.
Interpol, the international police organization, also has an asset recovery
unit, that does not hold investigative authority. The country concerned
must do the investigation by itself, just like Libya. And that makes things
complicated. „It's a complete mess,“ says a UN representative.
After Gaddafi’s death, Libya's interim government took it upon itself to
recover Gaddafi’s stolen assets. An asset recovery authority was set up.
But soon, oversight on which minister ordered whom to search abroad for the
assets was lost. On the hunt are: law firms, large enterprises, two-man
companies, private detectives, and even journalists. They are promised a
commission for their success – usually 10 percent, which is why they have
been named “the tenpercenters“.
Some searches became public. But no major successes have been reported.
Criminal groups also posed as official Libyan representatives. Others
claimed to have identified funds, which then turned out to be a ploy to
extract money from other peoples’ pockets. Knowing for sure who was
actually in charge soon became impossible in the rising civil war.
It is unclear who exactly is allowed to claim these assets lying abroad.
Authorities in other countries are therefore reluctant to cooperate with
Libya, where at times there were several competing governments. It is
understandable that in this situation, states such as Germany do not allow
repatriation to Libya – if sanctions don’t outlaw this in the given case.
They do, however, not actively search for further hidden assets or initiate
proceedings themselves.
## The Hiding Place
In South Africa, in the spring of 2019, suddenly, there were rumors of
money, gold and diamonds. Gaddafi’s treasure.
30 million dollars in cash, [1][the Johannesburg based Sunday Times
reported], had first been stored in the residence of ex-President Jacob
Zuma in Nkandla, a favor to his old friend Gaddafi, who gave it to Zuma
before his death in 2011. But the former president, who is now facing a
prison sentence for corruption and money laundering, had probably grown
afraid that the South African secret service could become aware of the
Libyan millions in his basement. He quickly had it shipped out of the
country to Eswatini, in five separate tranches. Eswatini, formerly known as
Swaziland, is a small kingdom between South Africa and Mozambique, the last
absolute monarchy on the continent. The money was deposited in its central
bank, was supposed to be laundered, and then brought back to South Africa –
and at some point, to Libya.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma's successor since 2018, took
care of the matter personally. Accompanied by two ministers, he took a
flight to Eswatini in March 2019 and spoke with King Mswati III. The king
initially stated he knew nothing about the money. He then confirmed its
presence. Officially, nothing further happened after.
The fact that [2][a large share of Gaddafi’s assets have landed in southern
Africa] is no coincidence. The dictator had been close with Mandela, and
also invested in South Africa. When revolutionaries gained the upper hand
in Libya, Zuma made an offer to his friend: Exile in South Africa. He chose
not to accept.
The U.N. Panel of Experts noted that, according to authorities in South
Africa, Libyan assets have been identified in four banks and two
warehouses; valuables had also been deposited at Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo
Airport – cash, precious metals, and precious stones worth tens of billions
of dollars.
A letter from the South African Attorney General's Office, obtained by taz,
describes how the transport allegedly took place. According to the letter,
the operation began in January 2009. Large amounts of cash and gold were
brought to Zimbabwe in cargo planes, Boeing 747s.
Gaddafi, on the 18th of January 2009, traveled there in person to
coordinate the operation. He there met his confidant Zuma, the later
president. From Harare, the transport continued with cargo planes, painted
white, without a clear identification tag. 69 flights in total.
Taz also obtained a document from the South African Standard Bank, dated
May 2013, which states that Libyan assets amounting to 206 billion U.S.
dollars are being held, including the value of the stored gold, but
excluding diamonds and other precious stones. Allegedly, hundreds of tons
of gold and at least six million carats of diamonds were involved. The
document also contains an estimate of how much these assets are worth: at
least $1.38 trillion. 1,380,000,000,000. An incredible amount.
If this is true. Because time and time again, forged documents turn up. Or
real documents stating things that are to be doubted. In this text, many
things we found out during our research have not been included. Because
they cannot be proven.
A myth has long grown around this treasure. This is also helped by the fact
that what subsequently happened in South Africa sounds like a spy thriller,
composed by a screenwriter who lost control over his storyline.
For example, a brief glimpse: Starting in 2012, dozens of treasure hunters
arrived in Johannesburg. [3][Two companies got into an actual race]. Both
claimed to be the only ones with an official mandate to secure Libyan
assets. People close to President Zuma played a role in these deals,
including the head of security for South Africa's ruling party ANC. An
intermediary who claimed to have personally unloaded packages of banknotes
from an airplane was shot dead in Belgrade. The head of one search firm was
kidnapped, his competitor fell under suspicion. He claimed it had been a
regular arrest. In 2015, the UN Panel of Experts determined that these
companies were in part operating with forged documents, and that the Libyan
authority who had allegedly commissioned their search did not even exist.
Their investigation did not go any further.
## The Hunter
In January 2013, [4][German police officer Thomas B.] traveled to Tripoli,
Libya. It was not his first visit. His destination: a trade fair called
„Military, Defence & Security“. Thomas B. first worked for the SEK in
Baden-Württemberg, as the squad leader of a precision rifle unit. He then
became head of a riot police unit in Böblingen.
Thomas B. is a medium-tall guy with short brown hair, a fleshy nose and a
square chin. He tries very hard to not have any photos of him on the
internet. However, he can be found in an older reality TV series about
police operations. In one episode he jumps out of a helicopter wearing a
camouflage suit and a sniper rifle. On his Linkedin profile, he states his
motto: „Going where others won't“.
Between 2005 and 2007, Thomas B. and other German elite police officers and
soldiers traveled to Tripoli several times, to train Gaddafi’s security
forces on behalf of a northern German company. They however had no
permission from their superiors, which makes their travels illegal by
German law.
In total, at least 30 active or former German officers, including some from
special units, SEK and GSG9, made their way to Tripoli. Some stayed for
weeks, some for months. Officially, they were on sick leave or on vacation.
In reality, they trained Gaddafi’s forces in shooting and urban warfare.
In 2008, their travels became public. The media called this scandal “the
Libya affair“.
A disciplinary ruling stated that Thomas B. had „irreversibly lost the
trust of his employer and the general public as a result of the serious
misconduct he committed.“ The Libya affair was never really resolved. It
was never established whether Thomas B. or other German trainers had shared
secret knowledge that they possessed as members of the special forces.
For Thomas B., the affair did not mean the end of his involvement with
Libya. On the contrary. With some others, he founded a consortium, a merger
of companies, to engage in business with Libya. Their proposition:
„complete solutions for our customers' needs in security, aviation, rescue
and equipment“, the website states to this day.
When Thomas B., in early 2013, after Gaddafi’s death, traveled to Tripoli
for the Military and Security fair, he was officially still a police
officer. His trip is confirmed by several of his business partners from
that period. At the time, many businessmen in the security industry saw
Libya as a new market that needed to be occupied quickly. „It was a
gold-rush atmosphere back then,“ says one of B.'s business partners.
Another man who was present states that Thomas B. had been very busy those
days, rushing from appointment to appointment. He also says that, at the
fair, someone showed him a photograph. Depicted: a truck parked in a
warehouse. A truck full of dollar bills.
It is uncertain whether Thomas B. got the idea of tracking down Gaddafi’s
money and gold at the trade fair in Tripoli. But at some point during this
time his new business idea comes to him: hunting for Gaddafi’s treasure.
Thomas B. later became co-managing director of Sotcon, a small security
company based in Stuttgart, Southern Germany. He is also the director of a
foundation, at least that's what is stated on an archived version of the
“United Recovery Foundation for Libya“’s website. It shows a city view of
Tripoli in the background, Thomas B.'s cell phone number is listed. The
purpose of the foundation is stated: “to receive hidden, stolen and frozen
assets and return the assets to the people of Libya (…)“. To do this,
according to the website, they have a mandate from the Libyan House of
Representatives.
But: Of all the experts and insiders we have spoken to, no one has heard
ever of this foundation.
A call to the US, to the man named as CEO. His business: To help others
quickly set up an NGO or foundation. A foundation can make even the
shadiest character seem pristine.
## A Camouflage Organization?
About the United Recovery Foundation for Libya, he states that they have a
very prestigious board of directors. He can’t name any of them for security
reasons, he says. And that they enjoy high-level support from both sides in
Libya. Among them: members of the Gaddafi family. Everything else: strictly
confidential.
But then he says: The initiative for the establishment of the foundation
came from the German company Sotcon, Thomas B.'s company. It was also
Sotcon, who had the mandate for the repatriation, and corresponding
contracts with „several sides“. And he says that Sotcon had identified
Libyan assets abroad.
It is quite possible that Sotcon has a letter from the Libyan House of
Representatives. Which is not too meaningful, because in the tangle of
responsibilities, no one knows exactly who has been putting stamps on
papers in the name of the parliament in eastern Libya, which hasn't been
elected since 2014. That, of all possible options, this dubious foundation,
has managed to acquire the support of all the opposing sides in Libya's
civil war is considered highly unlikely by experts. The House of
Representatives has not responded to several taz inquiries. According to
the UN, such mandates are not in their field of competence anyways.
Is the United Recovery Foundation for Libya just a front organization to
give Thomas B.'s treasure hunt a legitimate appearance? Who is Thomas B.
actually working for?
## The Partner
In the summer of 2019, another German turns up looking for Gaddafi’s
treasure. And he states that he is working together with Thomas B.
His name is Sandro L., a Bavarian in his late thirties. He has previously
worked as a real estate agent and as a band manager, then founded various
small companies, some in the IT sector. Thomas B. and Sandro L. then went
on a joint search for Gaddafi’s gold. An ex-police officer and a
businessman.
Sandro L. is well-connected. He asked Josef H., a former member of the
German Bundestag for the conservative CSU party, to help him establish some
contacts. The ex-deputy was a door opener, he facilitated appointments, for
example with companies from the security industry. The plans Sandro L. laid
out at these meetings are adventurous. We find sources that describe to us
what Sandro L. said.
L. talked about tracking down money in southern Africa and getting it out
of the country, first by land, then by air. They have the official order
from Libya, he supposedly said, and now they’re in need of equipment and
armed personnel. Sandro L. is also said to have mentioned [5][the Uniter
association] in this context. Uniter was founded by a former soldier of the
KSK, the German army special forces military command, and prepper
[6][“Hannibal“]. Today it is monitored by the Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution as a [7][suspected right-wing extremist
case]. An investigation by taz had revealed that Uniter wanted to set up an
armed unit, a kind of mercenary force.
Ex-CSU deputy Josef H., who is said to have helped L., says he knows Sandro
L. from private parties. And he claims that he has never engaged in any
business dealings with him.
It is not easy to find out what exactly Sandro L. is doing today and where
he lives. He is listed on the website of a law firm in Kiev, responsible
for „Business Development'‘. The law firm is located in an expensive area
of the city center. Sandro L. hasn't been to the office for a long time,
says the secretary in the reception room. We get no answer to e-mails.
More revealing are the traces Sandro L. has left behind on the internet. In
2017, he registered a company in London for projects in the financial
services sector. It also offers security solutions to profit in „emerging
markets“ and analysis of geopolitical risks. According to information on
the website, the company has cooperated with a training center for private
security and military companies in Kiev.
In search of Sandro L., we drive to a small town in Upper Bavaria, not far
from Munich. A family home in a quiet side street. No name on the door,
mailbox, doorbell. There are two cars in the driveway. One is a silver
Mercedes, a somewhat older model. There is a man in the passenger seat,
wearing jeans and sneakers, cleaning the car. We approach him.
„Hello Mr. L.“
„Who are you looking for?“
„Sandro L.“
„You're in the wrong place.“
But the man looks exactly like Sandro L. in photos. It is him. This is how
the conversation will go on for the two hours that we stand and talk in
front of his house on this late afternoon in autumn. Sandro L. denies
everything, then admits a little bit. And in the process, gets entangled in
contradictions.
First Sandro L. claims that he had heard about the Libya project but had
nothing to do with it. He says Thomas B. had told him about it and said
that it was about „billions and billions“. He had also shown him an
official document. The money was to be returned to the Libyan people, which
was a good thing, says Sandro L. Then, after asking several times, he
admits to asking around a little, at Thomas B.'s request, checking for
contacts who would be able to help.
„How many people did you ask?“
„Not even ten, this is a sensitive topic, you have to be careful.“
Sandro L. during our conversation denies that he searched for help with
equipment and personnel for the transport. First of all, he says, their
plan had only gone so far as finding the treasure, and didn’t even get to
bringing it out of the country. Uniter, he says, he has only read about.
Sandro L. coquettes, he makes jokes, offers cigarettes. And at crucial
points he always says: I don't really remember.
## The Witness
His former business partner doesn’t suffer from memory loss, as does Sandro
L. His name is Mikael S. and is as a known neo-Nazi. He hails from Sweden
and has been active in various right-wing extremist organizations since his
teenage years. Mikael S. served in the army for seven years, then, like
other foreigners, was drawn to Ukraine. He joined the far-right Azov
regiment and fought against Russian-backed separatists in the east of the
country. Today, he's taking it a little easier. He’s now on the road as a
security consultant, often in Africa.
Mikael S. is now in his mid-40s. We talk to him on Zoom. Behind him pass
the streets of Kiev, lined with high-rises, as he explains that the joint
company was about working in gray areas, private investigations, for
example.
Mikael S. confirms: Sandro L. and Thomas B. had planned to track down and
secure hidden money in Africa – for a success commission. Mikael S. was to
become a middleman. He is the right person for this job: He has combat
experience, knows people who can handle weapons. And he regularly traveled
to different African countries.
There was a contract, Mikael S. says, Thomas B. had once shown him a
document. And he says something else: Thomas B. is acting on behalf of the
Gaddafi family, not for the benefit of the Libyan people.
If this is true, Thomas B. could also have committed a criminal offense
under German law. A violation of financial sanctions is punishable by up to
five years in prison or a fine. Other offenses such as money laundering
might also apply. However, according to our research, there is no
indication that the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany are
interested in the fact that some of their citizens are searching for Libyan
assets abroad.
Thomas B. has built up good relations with the family, according to sources
close to him. He’s particularly familiar with one of Gaddafi’s sons. He had
even helped family members to get across the border and flee Libya after
the fall of the regime, so he told others. It is quite possible that Thomas
B. is also working on behalf of the Gaddafi clan now. According to Mikael
S., this is what he heard too.
That the Gaddafi family is interested in the assets in South Africa, is
known. „They want to use the assets in order to support pro-Gaddafi
candidates in future elections“, says James Shaw, asset recovery consultant
at the UN Institute for Interregional Crime and Justice Research in
Brussels. Government circles in South Africa say that the second eldest
son, Saif al-Islam, wants to access the assets believed to be there. If
South Africa were to grant this, it would be a clear violation of UN
sanctions.
## Contact with Uniter
He doesn't know what happened to the treasure hunt, Mikael S says, as he
didn't want anything to do with it.
Former policeman and treasure hunter Thomas B. does not answer his phone.
He neither replies to several text messages nor e-mails. It therefore
remains unclear how far he has come and who really hired him.
It is also open whether this is just a job for Thomas B. or whether there
is an ideological component.
It is interesting to see where Sandro L. and Thomas B. stand politically.
Sandro L. moves in circles of libertarian anarcho-capitalists. Apparently,
this is where the two treasure hunters got to know each other. At least
that's what Mikael S. says. Libertarians are people who consider taxation
to be theft and the right to property to be the holy grail.
The idea of a private mercenary troop that moves through foreign countries
and searches for treasures fits perfectly into the worldview of radical
libertarians. Because in this world, the state is supposed to be passive
and private actors are allowed to do as they please. Uniter, to which
certainly Thomas B. and apparently also Sandro L. had contact, has tried
exactly that. It had begun to build up a paramilitary unit.
## The Curse
It was a mistake, says diplomat Martin Kobler, that he and his colleagues
in Libya at the time did not look more closely at the assets that had been
set aside. They should have paid much more attention to financial flows
that did not go through official channels, he says.
Kobler is a career diplomat, having represented Germany around the world,
in Cairo, New Delhi and Baghdad. From 2015 to 2017, he was the UN special
envoy to Libya. He has invited us to his Berlin apartment, where he is
moving books from one room to another. On the wall are maps and souvenirs
from various countries, wooden masks, a curved dagger. He is now retired
and can speak more freely.
In Libya, Martin Kobler says, the main goal had been to bring the state
back together, to stabilize its political institutions. At the time, they
had not been concerned with asset recovery. Money had never been a problem
as long as oil kept flowing. „Libya is the most oil-rich country in Africa,
so in theory it is very wealthy.“
Martin Kobler says, „We didn't look close enough there. I would do that
differently today.“ He says it is a fundamental mistake not to look at a
country's wealth, often the most important cause of conflict.
Since March of this year, Libya has a new transitional government,
supported by the United Nations, a national unity government – no one knows
how much power it really holds. Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbaiba has taken
charge of the funds hidden abroad. The responsible authority in Tripoli now
directly reports to him. They have again officially commissioned private
investigation firms to search for the assets.
## Elections in Libya
Elections are to be held in Libya on December 24, but they are likely to be
postponed again. There's a vague hope for political stability, but also
disruptive factors. Saif al-Islam is back, 49 years old, Gaddafi’s second
oldest son. An arrest warrant against him has been issued by the
International Criminal Court. And there have long been rumors that he has
political ambitions. He has now laid claim to power and wants to become
president of Libya. He needs money to do so. The election commission
initially did not approve him as a candidate, but a court later ruled: He
may run.
In southern Africa, Gaddafi’s treasure, or at least part of it, apparently
still lies in Eswatini. The U.S. flagged these dollar notes more than a
year ago. The US is capable of doing that because the treasure consists
mainly of U.S. banknotes. Flagged means: Hands off. Three South African
government officials entrusted with the matter confirmed this. Any attempt
to bring the money into the regular financial system would get one in
trouble with the U.S. authorities, they say. Those in charge in South
Africa have agreed to let the matter rest for now. Until there is stability
in Libya.
Even in Libya itself, senior government officials have expressed concern
that this wealth will only wreak havoc once it returns to the country and
is redistributed. Some of it could be siphoned off – or might have already
– into dark channels en route. A 10 percent commission alone would be an
enormous sum if it fell into the wrong hands.
The hunt for Gaddafi’s treasure is not over yet. But it might be for the
better if it is never uncovered.
Qaanitah Hunter contributed reporting.
Translated from German by Lisa Schneider.
10 Dec 2021
## LINKS
[1] https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2019-04-07-jacob-zuma-hid-mua…
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000st2l
[3] https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/088469-000-A/die-jagd-nach-gaddafis-milliarde…
[4] /taz-Recherche-zu-rechtem-Netzwerk/!5577832
[5] /Uniter/!t5549503
[6] /taz-Recherche-auf-Englisch/!5558072
[7] /Uniter-und-der-Verfassungsschutz/!5697547
## AUTOREN
Sebastian Erb
Luisa Kuhn
Daniel Schulz
## TAGS
Schwerpunkt Libyenkrieg
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Libyen
Südafrika
Jacob Zuma
Uniter
IG
GNS
Gaddafi
Südafrika
Schwerpunkt Hannibals Schattennetzwerk
## ARTIKEL ZUM THEMA
Jagd nach Gaddafi-Vermögen: Schatzjäger mit rechtsextremem Netz
taz-Recherchen zeigen: Deutsche mit rechtsextremen Verbindungen suchen den
Milliardenschatz des einstigen libyschen Diktators.
Südafrikas Ex-Präsident verurteilt: Jacob Zuma muss ins Gefängnis
Jacob Zuma, Ex-Chef der Befreiungsbewegung ANC, schaffte es, das Image
Südafrikas umzudrehen. Sein Name steht für Machtmissbrauch und Korruption.
Franco A. und seine Verbindungen: Tief in Hannibals Netz
Der rechtsextreme Soldat Franco A. steht vor Gericht. Nach langen
Recherchen zum Netzwerk, zu dem er gehört: Ein Überblick in 300
Verknüpfungen.
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