SCOTTISH prosecutors have been asked to help investigate claims Highland hotels were bought with money embezzled from Libya by an ally of Muammar Gaddafi.
The Crown Office has received a request for assistance from authorities in the troubled North African state trying to track down missing millions destined for hospitals and other public projects.
Libyan officials claim Ali Ibrahim Dabaiba, a member of Gaddafi’s inner circle, spent some of this money on property in the UK, including the landmark Kenmore Hotel on Loch Tay, according to reports in The Guardian newspaper.
Read more: Kenny MacAskill has called into question Megrahi's conviction, campaigners claim
However, the firm which runs the Kenmore, The Aurora Hotel Collection, has denied the Libyan allegations as “ludicrous”. Mr Dabaiba, who has lived in London since 2011, the year the Gaddafi regime collapsed, is also understood to deny any wrongdoing.
A lawyer for his family has denied there is any investigation into his activities in Libya.
The Guardian said it had seen a 2014 request from Libya to the Crown Office for assistance.
The newspaper reported that in the document Libya’s recently retired attorney general Abdulkader Radwan claimed “huge amounts of money” may have been “illegally transferred to the banks in Britain and Scotland”.
Mr Radwan’s staff, the paper added, are investigating whether Mr Dabaiba was involved in embezzlement of public money, money laundering and abusing a public office.
The request for assistance, according to The Guardian, says the Aurora group and other businesses “may contain assets belonging to the State of Libya”.
Read more: Kenny MacAskill - UK Government admitted they wanted to trade Megrahi for oil
Steven McLeod, chief executive of the Aurora Hotel Collection said “We categorically refute the allegations which have been levelled against the company and the directors of the Aurora Hotel Collection vigorously deny any wrongdoing.
“These claims are both ludicrous and hugely damaging to the company and the directors.”
Two of the directors of Aurora have also been directors of a company called Marco Polo Storica, which received contracts from the Libyan government to plan the restoration of historic sites.
A Scottish Crown Office spokesman said: “We can confirm we have received a request for mutual legal assistance from the Libyan authorities.
“As this relates to an ongoing investigation it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
The Guardian also reported that US-based asset trackers working for Libya had identified a network of more than 100 companies in the UK or tax havens connected to Mr Dabaiba’s family or associates.
The paper said more than 40 of them are in Scotland.
There has been growing concern in Scotland over the last year that Scottish shell companies, formally controlled from traditional fiscal paradises, have been used to funnel money out of the Middle East, central Asia and eastern Europe.
Read more: Iain Macwhirter - Unanswered questions in MacAskill Lockerbie revelations
Scottish prosecutors signed a deal of mutual legal assistance with Libya in early 2014.
The outgoing Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland said last week that he was hopeful of a second trial of Libyan nationals who Scottish and US authorities believe to be responsible for the Lockerbie bombing of 1988. There are outstanding letters of request to Libya, which include a request to interview the two suspects, who are currently being held in custody.
The two men have not been named but they are understood to be Abdullah Senussi, Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief, and Abouajela Masud.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article