Libya demands return of over $1bn smuggled to South Africa

Libya is demanding the return of over one billion US Dollars which it claims has been smuggled to South Africa and neighboring countries. According to the Libyan News Agency (LANA), Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Finance in South Africa, has said that Libya asked his country to assist in retrieving more than a billion Dollars of smuggled funds. He pointed out that the process of verifying the Libyan request is currently under way. He went on to say that Libyan officials had been in contact with the South African government regarding the matter since last November. A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance in South Africa said that the ministry is conducting an investigation into Libyan assertions that Muammar Gaddafi and his family deposited money and other assets in South Africa.