News / / 04.07.26
The Sentry’s new investigation finds Ahmed Gadalla is the linchpin of the Haftar family’s power—controlling banks, evading the UN arms embargo, distributing unauthorized dinar banknotes, and orchestrating multimillion-dollar fraud schemes to bankroll Field Marshal Haftar’s power ambitions at the expense of the Libyan public.
APRIL 7, 2025 (Washington, DC) – A major new investigation by The Sentry exposes Ahmed Gadalla, a 46-year-old businessman from Benghazi, as the most versatile financial architect serving Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his sons, who control eastern and southern Libya. The report exposes how Gadalla’s influence is symptomatic of Libya’s systemically weak economy and governance which allow actors like Gadalla to thrive. Gadalla’s simultaneous involvement in banking, arms smuggling, the printing of unauthorized dinar banknotes, letter-of-credit fraud, and transnational military procurement makes him perhaps the most emblematic illicit actor in Libya today, enabling powerful state figures to loot the nation’s wealth.
Drawing on numerous interviews, research, and analysis of documents, the new report reveals how Gadalla, operating under the armed protection of Haftar’s son, Saddam Haftar, has inserted himself into virtually every layer of eastern Libya’s economy. Gadalla exerts de facto control over three major Libyan banks, using them to commit fraudulent schemes and launder ill-gotten profits. He has overseen the printing of billions in unauthorized 50-dinar banknotes in Russia, a scheme so damaging that the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) was forced to retire all 50-dinar banknotes in April 2025.
Beyond banking, Gadalla holds a 60% stake in Ozon, a newly created private telecom company that challenged Tripoli’s regulators on behalf of the Haftar family. Gadalla also chairs a state-owned steel company while running a constellation of private firms in Dubai, Malta, and the UK. Moreover, he serves as the Haftar family’s go-to architect for importing weapons in apparent violation of the UN arms embargo. The new report documents three recent arms-smuggling episodes tied to Gadalla: the July 2025 interception off Greece of a container ship ferrying roughly 200 military vehicles from the UAE to Benghazi for onward delivery to Sudan; a $1 billion-plus scheme to supply eastern Libya with Chinese combat drones—some of which were intercepted in Italy in June 2024; and about $16 million in drone equipment seized by Spanish and French police the prior year.
In one of the world’s richest oil-producing countries, ordinary citizens bear the cost of this level of corruption. The immense amounts of public money diverted through schemes like Gadalla’s siphon the hard currency the CBL needs for essential imports, exacerbate the dinar’s depreciation, and undermine the integrity of the country’s banking system.
Justyna Gudzowska, Executive Director of The Sentry, said: “Ahmed Gadalla helps the Haftar family turn military force into cash and cash into weapons. He helped bankroll a devastating assault on Tripoli with Libyan public funds, participated in flooding the economy with unauthorized dinar banknotes, and orchestrated arms shipments that appear to defy international law—all without facing a single consequence. For ordinary Libyans to ever see the benefits of their country’s wealth, such impunity must end.”
Oliver Windridge, Senior Advisor for UK and EU at The Sentry, said: “Gadalla might be prolific, but he’s not an outlier. He represents an entire class of enablers who do the dirty work for Libya’s warlords—laundering money, smuggling arms, subverting local banks—while hiding behind political protection and armed cover. Issuing international sanctions now against Gadalla and his network would send a clear message that the international community is willing to go beyond the warlords themselves and dismantle the illicit financial flows that sustain them.”
Key Report Insights:
The Sentry’s findings tie Gadalla to three high-profile arms smuggling episodes since 2023. In each case, Gadalla played a role in arranging the logistics, the financing, or both. To date, he has faced no consequences.
This transnational approach traces back to Gadalla’s first pro-Haftar scheme in 2019, which continues to impact the Libyan population seven years later:
Key recommendations in the report:
Read the full investigative report: https://thesentry.org/reports/eastern-libyas-top-money-man/
For media inquiries, please contact: Kria Sakakeeny, Director of Communications, [email protected]
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About The Sentry: The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts. Learn more at: https://TheSentry.org
Facts Only
Ahmed Gadalla is a 46-year-old businessman from Benghazi.
He is identified as a key financial architect for Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his family.
Gadalla controls three major Libyan banks and uses them for fraudulent schemes.
He oversaw the printing of unauthorized 50-dinar banknotes in Russia.
The Central Bank of Libya retired all 50-dinar banknotes in April 2025 due to the scheme.
Gadalla holds a 60% stake in Ozon, a private telecom company.
He chairs a state-owned steel company and operates private firms in Dubai, Malta, and the UK.
Gadalla is involved in arms smuggling, including a July 2025 shipment of military vehicles intercepted off Greece.
He orchestrated a $1 billion scheme to supply Chinese combat drones to eastern Libya.
Spanish and French police seized $16 million in drone equipment linked to Gadalla in 2023.
Gadalla operates under the armed protection of Saddam Haftar, Khalifa Haftar’s son.
The Sentry’s investigation is based on interviews, research, and document analysis.
Executive Summary
Ahmed Gadalla, a 46-year-old businessman from Benghazi, has been identified as a key financial architect for Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his family, who control eastern and southern Libya. According to an investigation by The Sentry, Gadalla is involved in multiple illicit activities, including controlling three major Libyan banks, printing unauthorized 50-dinar banknotes in Russia, and orchestrating arms smuggling operations in violation of the UN arms embargo. His activities have severely impacted Libya’s economy, exacerbating currency depreciation and undermining the banking system. Gadalla operates under the protection of Saddam Haftar, Khalifa Haftar’s son, and has ties to high-profile arms smuggling incidents, including a $1 billion scheme to supply Chinese combat drones and a shipment of military vehicles intercepted off Greece in July 2025. Despite his central role in these operations, Gadalla has faced no legal consequences. The investigation highlights systemic corruption in Libya, where powerful actors exploit weak governance to enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary citizens. The Sentry recommends international sanctions against Gadalla and his network to disrupt the financial flows sustaining Libya’s warlords.
The report also details Gadalla’s involvement in telecommunications, steel production, and a network of private firms across Dubai, Malta, and the UK. His schemes have diverted public funds, further destabilizing Libya’s economy and prolonging conflict. The Sentry’s findings underscore the need for accountability to prevent the continued looting of Libya’s wealth by elites.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative is that Ahmed Gadalla embodies the systemic corruption enabling Libya’s warlords to sustain their power through financial manipulation and arms trafficking. The Sentry’s investigation provides detailed evidence of his role in banking fraud, currency manipulation, and arms smuggling, all of which directly harm ordinary Libyans. The report’s strength lies in its documentation of specific incidents, such as the unauthorized printing of dinar banknotes and intercepted arms shipments, which lend credibility to its claims. However, the narrative also relies on framing Gadalla as a singularly emblematic figure, which may oversimplify the broader network of enablers sustaining Libya’s conflict economy.
Patterns detected: ARC-0024 Ambiguity (framing Gadalla as the "most emblematic" actor without fully addressing the systemic nature of corruption), ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey (focusing on Gadalla’s actions while implying broader systemic failure without explicit evidence of other actors).
The root cause of this narrative is the assumption that targeting individual actors like Gadalla can disrupt Libya’s corrupt networks. While this may be true, it risks ignoring the deeper structural issues—weak governance, international complicity, and the incentives for warlords to maintain control. The paradigm here is that corruption is driven by a few bad actors rather than a system that rewards predation.
The implications for human agency are stark: ordinary Libyans bear the cost of currency devaluation, banking instability, and diverted public funds, while elites like Gadalla and the Haftar family benefit. The second-order consequences include prolonged conflict, economic stagnation, and the normalization of illicit financial flows.
Bridge questions: What role do international actors play in enabling or combating these networks? How might sanctions against Gadalla affect the broader power dynamics in Libya? What alternative systems could prevent such exploitation in the future?
Counterstrike scan: If this were part of a coordinated influence campaign, the playbook would involve amplifying Gadalla’s role to justify foreign intervention or sanctions, while downplaying the complicity of other actors. The actual content does not fully match this pattern, as it acknowledges systemic issues, but the focus on Gadalla could be leveraged to simplify a complex conflict.
Sentinel — Human
The text exhibits the high specificity and contextual complexity typical of investigative journalism, strongly suggesting human authorship focused on detailed source material.