THESE are questions rising in the minds of people: Where does the money from the Middle East, and corrupt countries in Africa and Asia, go? Why do people in these countries continue to suffer from poverty despite having vast natural resources? If this fortune were properly utilized, would their circumstances likely be much better than they are today? In response to these questions, a Western tycoon said, “Corrupt officials and rulers in Middle Eastern countries, where corruption and lack of transparency are widespread, often have bank accounts in many Western or European banks, with the majority of them in Switzerland. Most of this money is not invested in the countries from where they were stolen.
Instead, it is deposited in accounts under secret numbers or fake identities. These accounts often go unchecked because their owners may have died, been assassinated, had no heirs, or were overthrown by political opponents. “As a result, using this money has become impossible due to the fear of accountability. Therefore, it effectively becomes the property of the bank and is included in its assets according to the laws in our countries. Some laws state that if no activity occurs in a bank account within 15 or 20 years, the bank has the right to seize the funds, which may include gold, jewelry, investment certificates, and stocks “We invest this money by lending it to poor countries that originally own it. In doing so, we earn high interest rates. In other words, we lend these countries their own money and profit from it. That is why we continue to support the corrupt.”
As a result, there is one country where this stolen money is held in custody, “lost money”, which has accounted for 10 percent of its national income since the early 1940s. Half of Switzerland’s $8.6 trillion in assets are owned by foreign clients, mostly from the Middle East and Africa. A large portion of this money has remained unused for years or has gone unaccounted for. This banking expert said, “We are pleased with this situation. The officials and leaders in these countries steal from their people and send the money to us. We invest it in ways that benefit our countries and contribute to the well-being of our people, while their citizens continue to suffer from poverty, hunger, and backwardness, in order to repay the loans we grant them.”
On the other hand, there are many failed countries, or nations whose rulers have brought them to poverty and suffering. Venezuela, for example, was once a prosperous oil-producing state. Today, it is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, with 96 percent of its population living below the poverty line. Venezuela serves as a real model of systematic plunder. Those trillions of U.S. dollars could be invested in lifting people out of poverty and hunger, and in building a competitive economic, industrial, and service-oriented environment. With this money, infrastructure could be developed, and essential services could be improved.
However, achieving this requires a strong national will and a commitment to governing the state in a way that prioritizes the welfare of its people. Recent events, particularly with the U.S. President’s decisions impacting more than 90 countries, have exposed the vulnerability of many of these countries to unforeseen crises. On the other hand, countries that adopted principles of transparency and the rule of law are beginning to navigate through these challenges to overcome this crisis more effectively. In contrast, several Arab countries remain powerless. Had the leaders of these countries invested their national wealth domestically and preserved the resources of sovereign funds instead of misappropriating them, the situation in many developing countries, those “sleeping nations” lying on a bed of thorny crises, could have been drastically different. This is due to the lack of self-confidence among their leaders and their failure to trust their own people.
