Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s announcement that the authorities had discovered that one family had looted more than 36 billion dollars sparked controversy again about the amount of money that was looted during the era of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who ruled the country for 20 years before he was forced to resign in the second. From April 2019, under the pressure of unprecedented popular protests.
And she came remarks Tebboune, Thursday, a month after announcing that the state would recover the equivalent of about $20 billion that was looted internally, considering that “the stored funds will have another solution,” stressing the continuation of the fight against corruption.
Last Thursday, during the inauguration of the “government-governors’ meeting,” the Algerian president said, “We discovered that one family owned 500,000 billion centimes (36 billion dollars) and is continuing to fight corruption. We make a final appeal to those with accumulated funds to deposit them in banks. https://t.co/5STghTe7L7
— baco (@baco85656613) January 21, 2023
Tebboune said, “The Algerian people have recently discovered huge numbers of looted money, to the extent that only one family looted 500,000 billion centimeters ($36 billion). Imagine the rest.”
He added, “If this money had continued, Algeria would have become a continental, Mediterranean, and other economic power.”
Some considered Tebboune’s announcement as a “blow to the corrupt.” While some saw that “this means that the amount of looted money is beyond imagination, and that it was sufficient for the renaissance of the entire nation for generations to come.”
Leader Abdelmadjid Tebboune: The Algerian people followed the staggering numbers to recover the looted money. I say that we found 500 thousand billion centimeters with only one family. And I do not say, may God forgive the foregoing…
It means no permission
A painful blow to the gangs, the Bouchika group, and the fragmentation of Tebboune. He will allow them #Algeria– 🌸Zahra Yassamine🌸 (@YassamineZahra) January 19, 2023
Algerian President Tebboune announces the discovery of (36 billion dollars) in one Algerian family, in addition to the recovery of 20 billion from before.
If this money is with one family, what is the amount of money looted by other corrupt families!? I think it amounts to trillions of dollars, enough for the renaissance of the entire nation for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/lXozLPliVS– Asim Al Mujahid | Alternative (@Asem22mo) January 22, 2023
But others questioned the sincerity of the president, and that the figure is an exaggeration.
He lies more than he breathes…
500 thousand billion centimeters = more than 36 billion dollars at the bank rate!
Is it possible that one family in #Algeria (Tahkout family) owns this huge money!!
To remember that #Tboune _ the _ fake He was a minister and then a first minister in the Bouteflika era…
At a time when we say that the country is looting without borders pic.twitter.com/Rrt42Jtbp4– Muhammad Al-Arabi Zitot (@mohamedzitout) January 19, 2023
And Tebboune had said last month that there was “huge money that was smuggled (abroad) over a period of 10 to 12 years,” according to what was reported. Agency The official Algerian news.
Tebboune added, “Most European countries extended a helping hand to Algeria regarding this issue and expressed their willingness to cooperate with us in order to recover these funds and return them to the Algerian state’s treasury, provided that legal procedures are respected.”
He continued, “The process is continuing, and there are properties visible in the form of 5-star hotels and others, so that we were officially notified in order to hand them over to Algeria, especially by countries that were a destination for smuggling and a source for inflating bills,” pointing out that there are some funds “placed in special safes in Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Virgin Islands.
He reaffirmed his commitment to recovering this money, despite the difficulty of this process, according to the Algerian News Agency.
Tebboune, 77, was for a long time a minister in a number of Bouteflika governments, who appointed him prime minister in May 2017, before dismissing him less than three months later.
