The suspects are accused of illegally acquiring assets and transferring funds abroad during Mr Ben Ali's 23 years in power. Leila Trabelsi's eldest brother Belhassen, believed to have been worth billions in his own right, is reported to be in Canada. Tunisian officials have said they intend to recover all of the ousted ruling family's assets within reach, while trying to protect employees working at affected companies. But an unknown quantity of their wealth has been deposited or invested outside Tunisia, in countries including France, Switzerland, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Lebegue of Transparency International said investigations by lawyers' associations, non-governmental organisations and journalists indicate that the families own a "significant amount of property" in Paris, on the Cote d'Azur and in the Alps, as well as other possessions held in France including racehorses and luxury cars.
There were even reports in the French media that Leila Trabelsi withdrew bars of gold from the central bank not long before leaving Tunisia. Activists want international authorities to act fast to freeze the family's assets, though they are optimistic that there is now enough scrutiny in Europe to prevent funds being moved.
A fabulously wealthy businessman described in a leaked US diplomatic cable as Ben Ali's "most notorious family member", Belhassen fled by yacht to Italy on January 14, -- the same day Ben Ali took flight to Saudi Arabia. After three years on the run, Belhassen was arrested in March in the south of France. Tunisia has sought his extradition, and an Aix-en-Provence appeals court is set to rule on the case on January Imed, a nephew of Leila Trabelsi, was arrested as he attempted to flee to France the day the regime fell.
The most prominent Trabelsi to have faced trial in Tunisia, he was sentenced to years in prison, including on multiple charges of corruption. In , he apologised on national television for the endemic corruption under Ben Ali, describing how the clan bribed and bullied its way to monopolies on everything from the real estate sector to banana imports. Trabelsi said he "apologised from the bottom of my heart" and offered to pay back his ill-gotten gains, but he remains in prison.
Sakher El Materi, ex-husband of Nessrine Trabelsi, was often seen as Ben Ali's favourite son-in-law and potential successor. Trabelsi, nicknamed "the hairdresser" due to her modest beginnings, was one of the most-hated figures of the Ben Ali regime.
Her family exploited her position to build a vast, corrupt business network. She and her young son live in Jeddah along with her daughter Nessrine, a divorcee who recently remarried to ostentatious Tunisian rapper K2Rhym, before press reports that she had divorced again. Trabelsi's brothers are suspected of having led her family's monopolisation of the Tunisian economy. Under Ben Ali, they gradually came to dominate the retail, real estate, communications, media and car import sectors.
The following are key figures: A fabulously wealthy businessman described in a leaked US diplomatic cable as Ben Ali's "most notorious family member", Belhassen fled by yacht to Italy on January 14, -- the same day Ben Ali took flight to Saudi Arabia. Belhassen flew in a private jet to Canada and lived in a plush Montreal apartment until When he was denied asylum, he simply disappeared. After three years on the run, Belhassen was arrested in March in the south of France.
He remains under judicial supervision while French courts examine whether to extradite him for trial in Tunisia, with a new hearing set for December He is accused of fraud, embezzlement and laundering criminal proceeds. Imed, a nephew of Leila Trabelsi, was arrested as he attempted to flee to France the day the regime fell.
Swiss authorities imposed a year freeze on the assets of Ben Ali and his clan amid a corruption probe on Jan. Leila Trabelsi, Ben Ali's widow, and her wealthy businessman brother, Belhassen Trabelsi, are among 30 to 50 of his relatives and associates who "could get hold of the money," the source said. The Swiss have reportedly demanded documents to prove the funds are indeed illegal before they could return the money to Tunisia's government.
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