Saadi Gaddafi’s $1.6M Toronto condo: dictator’s son owns penthouse near waterfront

National Post Staff  

Tyler Anderson/National Post

Nice place, shame about the neighbours: A condo building at 10 Navy Warf Cr. where Saadi Gadaffi owns a 40th-floor penthouse in Toronto.

By Stewart Bell and Natalie Alcoba

TORONTO — The Gaddafi family owns a $1.6-million penthouse apartment in downtown Toronto that has apparently gone unnoticed by the Canadian and Libyan governments, the National Post has learned.

The luxury condo atop the Harbor View Estates building on the Toronto waterfront comes with a view of Lake Ontario and access to a 25-metre swimming pool, squash, basketball and tennis courts and a bowling alley.

Although the United Nations Security Council ordered countries to freeze the Gaddafis’ worldwide assets in response to Libya’s crackdown on demonstrators, Ontario property records still list the condo’s owner as “Saadi Kaddafi.”

Three sources confirmed the condo is owned by the late dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s third son, Saadi. Ontario government land records also list him as the owner of four other units in the same building, but they appear to be storage lockers.

Provided

Click to enlarge this property document

He bought the condo for $1.55-million on May 7, 2008. At the time, he was spending three months in Canada, protected by a security team paid for by the Montreal firm SNC-Lavalin, which has significant construction contracts in Libya.

The Security Council imposed an assets freeze on the entire Gaddafi family, including Saadi Gaddafi, on March 17. It described him as a commander of “military units involved in the repression of demonstrations.”

But nine months later there is no indication any action has been taken against the Toronto condo, and the monthly maintenance fees are up to date, paid out of a Swiss bank account. The UN assets freeze should make such payments impossible.

While the condo apparently sits unused, last week senior members of Libya’s new government made an urgent appeal for money to pay public-sector workers and rebuild state institutions following the anti-Gaddafi revolution.

Tyler Anderson / National Post

The lobby at 10 Navy Warf Cr.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, was among those who signed a letter asking the United Nations to speed up the release of the estimated $150-billion in Libyan funds frozen during the conflict.

The Gaddafis owned properties and businesses around the globe during their heyday. The condo at 10 Navy Wharf Ct., near Front Street and Spadina Avenue, is legally owned by Saadi Gaddafi rather than a Libyan state institution. But the Canadian Libyan Council wants the federal government to investigate.

“It should be returned to the transitional government, and through them it would be redistributed appropriately in the rebuilding of the country,” said Amal Abuzgaya, the Council spokeswoman.

She said Col. Gaddafi had centralized Libya’s economy, and pocketed much of its wealth. Gaddafi’s children, in particular, were known for their lavish lifestyles. “And you see things like this which are just disgusting, where they’re spending millions,” Ms. Abuzgaya said. “I mean, how often did he come to Canada, really, to have a $1.5-million penthouse?”

AFP PHOTO/Vincenzo PINTO

Saadi Gaddafi in 2003.

She said there is a dire need for cash in Libya and Canada should be tracking down the money and assets stashed away by the regime. “It’s very important that the Canadian government looks into every single asset that is here and returns that, by all means.”

The tall building, in a shell almost exclusively made of glass, is a stone’s throw from the Rogers Centre, home field of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the burgeoning CityPlace community. Next door to Mr. Gaddafi’s building, there is a Montessori daycare and a Dairy Queen.

The entrance has wood-paneled accents and the lobby is simply decorated, with boxy, cream-coloured couches, red poinsettias on the tables and a decorated Christmas tree beside a box for toy donations.

Saadi Gaddafi, 38, once a professional soccer player and later a businessman, was never as keenly involved in his father’s regime as his brother, Saif Al-Islam. He visited Canada about once a year to talk business, take courses and enjoy the Toronto nightlife, and once threw a party during the Toronto International Film Festival. Despite owning a condo, he preferred staying at hotels.

After the Libyan revolution began in February, Mr. Gaddafi allegedly looked into moving to Canada. His North American security chief, Gary Peters, said he spoke to the RCMP about it and was told Mr. Gaddafi would be arrested upon arrival.