The Two Families Stripping Libya Bare: Inside the Shadow Economy Dividing the State

This investigative report examines how rival Libyan power networks allegedly exploit the country’s fractured political system to divide and extract its sovereign wealth. At the center are backchannel agreements between Ibrahim Dbeibeh and Saddam Haftar, reportedly negotiated in Rome and Paris, alongside parallel shadow economies that keep the country politically and economically divided. The report details a multi-billion-dollar POS credit-card laundering scheme operating from Istanbul, the circulation of more than 10 billion in unissued counterfeit dinars, and lucrative maritime and cross-border fuel-smuggling networks. Drawing on Transparency International’s Closing the Gaps report, it also exposes legal and institutional loopholes—including missing beneficial-ownership registers and offline property records—that make stolen assets difficult to recover. Ultimately, the investigation asks whether Libya’s apparent economic recovery is genuine or merely the fragile illusion of a “zombie rentier” state.