{"id":85192,"date":"2019-01-28T14:53:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T21:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=85192"},"modified":"2019-01-28T14:53:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T21:53:12","slug":"goldvenezuelas-gold-3-times-state-wealth-in-western-banks-mysteriously-vanished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/01\/28\/goldvenezuelas-gold-3-times-state-wealth-in-western-banks-mysteriously-vanished\/","title":{"rendered":"GoldVenezuela’s Gold: 3 Times State Wealth in Western Banks “Mysteriously” Vanished"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Courtesy RIA Novosti<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Self-proclaimed Venezuelan interim president Juan Guaido has praised the Bank of England’s reported refusal to allow Caracas to repatriate $1.2 billion worth of gold bullion, branding the move a “protection of assets.” Sputnik looks at a few other times Western governments and banks froze, or outright stole, the sovereign wealth of other countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Caracas has been waging a losing battle to\u00a0get its gold back from\u00a0the UK since\u00a0late last year, with\u00a0the Bank of\u00a0England repeatedly\u00a0refusing<\/a>\u00a0its repatriation requests, according to\u00a0media reports<\/a>. Last week, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt joined Britain’s US allies in\u00a0backing Juan Guaido, calling him “the right person to\u00a0take Venezuela forward” and making the return of\u00a0Venezuela’s gold all the more unlikely. Over the weekend, as\u00a0if on\u00a0cue, Guaido\u00a0praised<\/a>\u00a0London’s decision not to\u00a0return the gold.<\/p>\n

All Part of\u00a0the Job<\/strong><\/p>\n

The practice of\u00a0freezing or seizing the assets of\u00a0countries which somehow find themselves on\u00a0the wrong side of\u00a0US and European policymakers and financial interests is anything but\u00a0new. A\u00a01992 review<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0US extraterritorial asset freeze orders by\u00a0legal scholar Rachel Gerstenhaber recounted well over\u00a0a dozen cases of\u00a0the US freezing or confiscating assets of\u00a0countries including the likes of\u00a0Iraq, Panama, Libya, Iran, South Vietnam, Cuba, Nicaragua and a bevy of\u00a0former Eastern Bloc states. The list doesn’t include similar moves by\u00a0US allies in\u00a0Western Europe, which similarly deprived countries of\u00a0tens of\u00a0billions of\u00a0dollars in\u00a0sovereign assets. For the sake of\u00a0brevity, Sputnik focuses on\u00a0three such cases.<\/p>\n

Iran<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Rescue<\/div>\n
\u00a9 AP PHOTO \/ ASSAD<\/div>\n
1983 US Barracks Bombing in Beirut: Will Iran Ever Get Its Frozen Billions Back?<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The 40-year-old\u00a0saga<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Iran’s frozen assets goes back to\u00a0the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw revolutionaries overthrow US-backed dictator Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and the establishment of\u00a0an Islamic republic. The upheaval, which included the taking of\u00a0hostages at\u00a0the US Embassy in\u00a0Tehran, prompted Washington to\u00a0cut off\u00a0diplomatic relations, ban Iranian oil imports and freeze some $11 billion in\u00a0assets ($35.35 billion today, accounting for\u00a0inflation).On the eve of\u00a0the signing of\u00a0the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of\u00a0Action (JCPOA), widely known as\u00a0the Iran nuclear deal, in\u00a02015, Tehran’s frozen assets, including those stemming from\u00a0the 1979 Revolution, as\u00a0well as\u00a0international nuclear-related restrictions, were\u00a0estimated<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0amount to\u00a0at least $100 billion. The chief of\u00a0Iran’s central bank said that only about $32 billion, a third of\u00a0the total, could be released in\u00a0connection with\u00a0the nuclear deal.<\/p>\n

Over three years after\u00a0the JCPOA’s signature, the fate of\u00a0much of\u00a0the wealth remains unclear. What is known is that US courts have heard multiple cases demanding the outright seizure of\u00a0the Islamic Republic’s wealth. This includes a 2016 ruling\u00a0ordering<\/a>Iranian cash to\u00a0be paid to\u00a0the families of\u00a0US servicemen killed in\u00a0the 23 October, 1983 truck bombings in\u00a0Beirut, Lebanon. Tehran maintains that it had nothing to\u00a0do with\u00a0the act of\u00a0terrorism, and has\u00a0challenged<\/a>\u00a0the ruling with\u00a0the International Court of\u00a0Justice, so far unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n

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\"9\/11<\/div>\n
CC BY 2.0<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a09\/11 PHOTOS<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a09\/11 WTC PHOTO<\/a><\/div>\n
Iran Blasts US 9\/11 Ruling as ‘Mockery of Americans, Victims of Terror Attack’<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In a separate, even more outrageous ruling from\u00a02018, a New York court\u00a0ordered<\/a>\u00a0frozen Iranian assets to\u00a0be used to\u00a0compensate the victims of\u00a09\/11, despite\u00a0the fact that Iran had nothing to\u00a0do with\u00a0the terrorist attacks and that 15 of\u00a0the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.Iraq<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the run-up to\u00a0the US invasion of\u00a0Iraq in\u00a02003, the military\u00a0planning to\u00a0seize<\/a>\u00a0the country’s strategic assets was accompanied by\u00a0economic calculations to\u00a0seize some\u00a0$1.75 billion<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Iraqi assets already frozen in\u00a0US accounts.<\/p>\n

The seizure was just the tip of\u00a0the iceberg in\u00a0what would become what seems like\u00a0a bottomless pit of\u00a0asset pilfering in\u00a0the chaos which followed the invasion. In 2010, a Pentagon audit concluded that it couldn’t account for\u00a0some\u00a0$8.7 billion<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0missing Iraqi oil and gas money meant for\u00a0reconstruction.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n
\u00a9 AFP 2018 \/ KARIM SAHIB<\/div>\n
‘Controlled Chaos’: US-Led Coalition Wasted Trillions of Dollars Destroying Iraq<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Earlier, US media sporadically reported on\u00a0the enthralling case of\u00a0some $10-$20 billion in\u00a0cash, most of\u00a0it consisting of\u00a0Iraqi state assets, which was\u00a0shipped<\/a>\u00a0into\u00a0Iraq in\u00a02004 for\u00a0reconstruction efforts before\u00a0seemingly vanishing into\u00a0thin air.In a 2005 audit, US inspector general for\u00a0Iraq reconstruction Stuart W. Bowen Jr. reported that over $8.8 billion in\u00a0the funds could not be accounted for. Six years later, Bowen told Congress that US officials still hadn’t accounted for\u00a0some\u00a0$6.6 billion<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0funds, and said the case could very well be “the largest theft of\u00a0funds in\u00a0national history.”<\/p>\n

Libya<\/strong><\/p>\n

The details of\u00a0the suspected plundering of\u00a0a major chunk of\u00a0Libya’s vast sovereign wealth fund in\u00a0the aftermath of\u00a0the NATO intervention to\u00a0overthrow Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi remain shrouded in\u00a0mystery, close to\u00a0eight years after\u00a0the attack. In late 2018, officials from\u00a0one of\u00a0Libya’s warring factions\u00a0called on<\/a>\u00a0the UN Security Council to\u00a0safeguard what’s left of\u00a0the Libyan assets\u00a0still frozen<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0foreign accounts.<\/p>\n

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\"Leader<\/div>\n
\u00a9 SPUTNIK \/ ALEXEI DRUZHININ<\/div>\n
Libya Investigates Who Benefited From Gaddafi’s Billions Frozen in Belgium<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The concerns came following\u00a0reports last March that some\u00a010 billion euros<\/a>(approximately $11.4 billion US) in\u00a0Libyan sovereign wealth had disappeared from\u00a0a Belgian bank, with\u00a0just 5 billion euros of\u00a0the original 16 billion euro fund remaining. Last September, a UN panel found Belgium to\u00a0be in\u00a0breach of\u00a0asset freeze restrictions, with\u00a0interest payments on\u00a0some of\u00a0the Libyan funds feared to\u00a0have been transferred to\u00a0accounts belonging to\u00a0warring militias,\u00a0including Islamists<\/a>. Authorities from\u00a0the Tripoli-based government later\u00a0alleged<\/a>\u00a0that the United Arab Emirates were “almost certainly” behind\u00a0the pilfering, saying the funds were used to\u00a0support the Tobruk-based government in\u00a0eastern Libya.The scandal is just one of\u00a0numerous major asset freezes and seizures by\u00a0Western powers in\u00a0the aftermath of\u00a0Gaddafi’s demise. In 2012, over\u00a0a billion euros<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0assets belonging to\u00a0Gaddafi’s family and senior members of\u00a0his government were seized in\u00a0Italy at\u00a0the request of\u00a0the International Criminal Court, including stakes in\u00a0major Italian companies, as\u00a0well as\u00a0property.<\/p>\n

A year before\u00a0that, the Obama administration\u00a0froze $29.8 billion<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Libyan wealth held in\u00a0US banks including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and the Carlyle Group.<\/p>\n

The assets, along\u00a0with $40 billion more in\u00a0funds held elsewhere, were reported to\u00a0have been unfrozen in\u00a0December of\u00a02011. However, UN officials later said that only about $3 billion of\u00a0that had actually reached the country “due to\u00a0concerns over\u00a0who the money should be released to\u00a0and other diplomatic problems.” In late 2018, the head of\u00a0Libya’s sovereign wealth fund\u00a0told Reuters<\/a>\u00a0that the fund was planning to\u00a0appoint auditors to\u00a0carry out\u00a0a system-wide audit of\u00a0its assets in\u00a02019 to\u00a0try to\u00a0unfreeze some of\u00a0the billions in\u00a0assets still frozen. As of\u00a0late last year, an estimated 70 percent of\u00a0the Libyan Investment Authority’s $67 billion in\u00a0assets abroad remain frozen by\u00a0the UN.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n
\u00a9 SPUTNIK \/ ANDREY STENIN<\/div>\n
Venezuela Crisis: A Look Back at Three Times US Meddling Led to Catastrophe<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Also in\u00a02018, British lawmakers mulled pulling a US courts-style seizure of\u00a0part of\u00a0Libya’s sovereign wealth fund to\u00a0compensate victims of\u00a0the Irish Republican Army, which Gaddafi is thought to\u00a0have sponsored in\u00a0the 1980s.An estimated 9.5 billion pounds ($12.5 billion US) of\u00a0Libya’s wealth is still believed to\u00a0be held in\u00a0British banks. Tripoli has urged London not to\u00a0go ahead with\u00a0the seizure. “There is no lawful basis for\u00a0the United Kingdom to\u00a0seize or change ownership of\u00a0the frozen LIA assets. These belong to\u00a0the Libyan people,” Libyan Investment Authority chief Ali Mahmoud Hassan Mohamed\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0a letter addressed to\u00a0the UK’s Junior Foreign Minister Alistair Burt last October.<\/p>\n

The unscrupulous use of\u00a0Libyan national wealth hasn’t been limited to\u00a0post-Gaddafi Libya, either. Last year, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was charged with\u00a0bribery and accepting some 50 million euros in\u00a0illegal campaign contributions from\u00a0Libya ahead of\u00a0the 2007 presidential election in\u00a0France. Sarkozy repaid this generosity by\u00a0being one of\u00a0the key advocates of\u00a0the 2011 NATO attack on\u00a0Libya.<\/p>\n

Caracas’s Bullion<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"A<\/div>\n
\u00a9 AP PHOTO \/ YUI MOK<\/div>\n
Britain Working Behind the Scenes to Unite EU Against Venezuela’s Maduro \u2013 Report<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On Sunday, Argentinian newspaper Ambito Financiero\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that Venezuelan national assembly head Juan Guaido had asked Prime Minister May and Bank of\u00a0England governor Mark Carney not to\u00a0return the estimated $1.2 billion in\u00a0gold bullion to\u00a0Caracas, despite\u00a0President Maduro’s requests. Earlier, in\u00a0a Saturday tweet, Guaido praised the Bank’s alleged refusal to\u00a0allow the gold to\u00a0be repatriated, writing that “the process of\u00a0protecting the assets of\u00a0Venezuela has begun,” and saying that the opposition would “not allow more abuse and theft of\u00a0money intended for\u00a0food, medicine and the future of\u00a0our children.”If the stories of\u00a0asset freezes and seizures outlined above\u00a0are anything to\u00a0go by, it doesn’t seem like\u00a0it’s going to\u00a0be up\u00a0to the Venezuelans to\u00a0decide what Western governments and central banks do with\u00a0their country’s wealth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy RIA Novosti Self-proclaimed Venezuelan interim president Juan Guaido has praised the Bank of England’s reported refusal to allow Caracas to repatriate $1.2 billion worth of gold bullion, branding the move a “protection of assets.” Sputnik looks at a few other times Western governments and banks froze, or outright stole, the sovereign wealth of other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85192\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}