Libya Turned Down Madoff, Stanford Proposals: Wikileaks

Wikileaks strikes again. This time a leaked cable reveals, according to a Wednesday MSNBC news report, that the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi was approached for the purpose of soliciting investments by both Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford. Madoff has already been jailed for perpetrating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that cost investors dearly; Stanford is awaiting trial on similar charges.

The report said that Mohamed Layas, head of Libya’s sovereign wealth fund LIA, said in a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Gene Cretz that he had been approached by both men with the offer of investments. In the cable, titled "Technology of Tourism: Head of Libyan Investment Authority Discusses Opportunities for US Business in Libya," and written on Jan. 28, 2010, in the meeting with Cretz, Layas denied reports that LIA had invested $100 million with Stanford.

Cretz had written, "Stanford had approached the LIA in the middle of his crisis, offering a 7-8% share in his investment scheme, but Layas had refused. Layas also mentioned having been previously approached by Bernard Madoff about an investment opportunity, 'but we did not accept.’ "