Is Saddam Hussein's fortune in a warehouse in Moscow? Mystery over £16.75bn piles of cash left at airport for six years
- Cash in 100 euro notes is stored on wooden pallets
- Each of the 200 pallets is worth 100million euros
- Money was sent to Moscow from Frankfurt in 2007
- Documents show the sender was a 45-year-old Iranian
- No recipient listed but sources say it could belong to Saddam Hussein
- Other theories are that it belonged to Colonel Gaddafi, a Mafia operation linked to the state, or corrupt officials
- Unsuccessful attempts have been made to claim the fortune that would make the owner richer than Roman Abramovich
A cargo of 20billion euros in cash (£16.75billion) has lain unclaimed at a Moscow airport for six years amid allegations it could be the secret fortune of Saddam Hussein.
The stash, now under high security in a cargo depot, is held on 200 wooden pallets each worth 100 million euros, enough to keep the entire NHS going for almost two months.
Russian customs have demanded the real owner of the booty "presents himself" to claim the fortune, but while a number of bogus and unconvincing attempts have been made to obtain it, no-one has satisfied the authorities that they are the rightful recipient.
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| Under armed guard at Sheremetyevo airport in Russia there is £16.75bn in cash stored on wooden pallets |
'It is possible that this is the money of Saddam Hussein,' an anonymous intelligence source told Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.
The cash mountain, all in 100 euro notes, was flown to Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow from Frankfurt on 7 August 2007 and it has remained frozen there ever since.
Russian sources say the authorities have failed to untangle the identity of the ultimate owner of the money, which - strangely - arrived at the airport without a specified recipient on the consignment.
Why Saddam's ill-gotten nest egg would have been sent from Germany to Russia four years after he was toppled, and eight months after his execution, is unclear, but this is not the only theory about the money's origin.
It is claimed that the Iraqi tyrant had shifted £7.5 billion to Moscow in diplomatic bags before he was ousted, yet this was far short of the full wealth he had amassed.
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