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Although he led an ascetic existence in Ramallah, Arafat lavished money siphoned from Palestinian coffers on cronies, family members and militant groups. There was income from bank accounts and businesses spread across the world, often held in others' names. A senior Palestinian intelligence official says Arafat had a stake in a Hebron furniture company and a Syrian sewing factory. Senior Palestinian security officials tell TIME that Arafat shipped money to the gunmen of the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The most conspicuous recipient of Arafat's largesse was Suha. People familiar with Arafat's finances say the Palestinian leader sent Suha $200,000 a month out of the Palestinian Authority's budget for the Office of the President. French authorities are investigating transfers of $11.5 million from Swiss banks to Paris accounts in Suha's name at the Arab Bank and at BNP Paribas Bank, a French bank.
In August 2002, international donors forced Arafat to sign over his investments to the Palestine Investment Fund, which was audited by U.S. accountants and managed by Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, a former International Monetary Fund official. After scouring corporations throughout the Arab world and bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg, the auditors identified $800 million, which has been made a part of the Palestinian Authority's official budget. "It's the most successful financial reform in the Arab world," says Jim Prince, president of the Los Angeles--based Democracy Council and head of the audit team.
People close to Fayyad's investigation tell TIME that last year the auditors discovered that Arafat was guilty of skimming $2 million a month from the gasoline trade in the territories. Breaking the gasoline smuggling and corruption boosted the Palestinian Authority's official treasury by $10 million a month and cut gas prices for ordinary Palestinians. But Arafat's death means his followers may never know just how much more they may be owed. --By Matt Rees/ Jerusalem. With Jamil Hamad/ Ramallah and Aharon Klein/Jerusalem