Missing, $6.6bn, reward offered for return.

[Gob]

Some $6.6bn (£4bn) flown into Iraq eight years ago may have been stolen, according to a US official investigating fraud in the country.

The missing money may represent "the largest theft of funds in national history", investigator Stuart Bowen told the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

A third audit is being conducted to find the money, which was shipped from the US between 2003-2004, he said.

The cash, which belonged to Iraq, was intended to pay for reconstruction.

The money came from a special fund set up by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with Iraq's own money, which was previously withheld from the country under harsh economic sanctions imposed against Saddam Hussein's regime.

The funds were airlifted aboard C-130 military cargo planes by the Bush administration in shrink-wrapped bricks, as part of a $20bn reconstruction package.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13768882

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