London: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has a USD 4 billion "emergency fund" hidden in secret accounts in European banks, a media report said.
The 68-year-old has kept much of the money in banks in Luxembourg, which he intends to use to continue his lavish way of life if he is forced to flee North Korea, 'The Daily Telegraph' quoted South Korean intelligence sources as saying.
The money is the profits from the impoverished nation selling its nuclear and missile technology, dealing in narcotics, insurance fraud, the use of forced labour, and the counterfeiting of foreign currency, the report said.
The money was earlier held in Swiss banks until the authorities there started tightening the regulations on money laundering, the unnamed sources were quoted as saying.
"I believe this is the most extensive money-laundering operation in the history of organised crime, yet the final destination of funds has not been given the proper attention it deserves.”
"I believe the secret bank accounts are now in Luxembourg, or have recently been transferred from Luxembourg to other tax havens," Ken Kato, the director of Human Rights in Asia, said.
A spokesman for the Luxembourg government said that it was obliged to probe all transactions involving North Korea. "The problem is that they do not have North Korea written all over them. They try to hide and they try to erase as many links as possible."
A South Korean intelligence official said: "If the North Korean people were aware of this money while they have suffered, then it is possible they could rise up against the regime."
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 15, 2010, 12:28