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The overthrow of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine could have important financial repercussions because many of the country’s biggest companies were owned or controlled by members of his family. Tunisia’s new leadership has said it will investigate those who accumulated vast wealth under Ben Ali. That opens the way for a possible redistribution of assets, and potential headaches for foreign partners.
State television reported on Wednesday that 33 members of Ben Ali’s extended family had been arrested, and showed gold and jewellery it said had been found in their possession.
Here are members of Ben Ali's family and some of the assets linked to them. Tunisian analysts say many more are controlled by the family but the true ownership is masked by a web of front companies. SAKHER MATERI: The husband of Ben Ali’s daughter, he is Tunisia’s most prominent businessman despite being only in his early 30s. His empire ranges from media to banking and telecoms. Now in Dubai, he has said he is ready to submit to any investigation by the new government. His business interests include:
* Ziytouna Bank, Tunisia;s first Islamic bank, which started operating last year. Materi’s Princesse Holdings contributed 51 percent of the $30 million starting capital.
* He is chairman of ENNAKL, a car retailer which sells the Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Porsche brands. The firm listed 40 percent of its share capital on the Tunis and Casablanca stock exchanges last year. * Materi’s media interests include Assabah newspaper, Tunisia’s biggest-circulation daily, and Islamic radio station Ziytouna FM. * Princesse Holding owns a share in mobile telephone operator Tunisiana. In November last year, it joined Qatar Telecom’s Kuwaiti unit Wataniya in a consortium to buy Orascom Telecom’s 50 percent stake in the operator. BELHASSEN TRABELSI: The brother of Ben Ali’s wife, Leila, Belhassen Trebelsi’s business interests include:
* A stake in Ciments de Carthage, a cement manufacturer, which listed shares on the Tunis bourse in 2010. * Cactus, a television production house. * The five-star Karthago Le Palace hotel, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in Gammarth, an upmarket suburb of Tunis where many of the country’s moneyed elite under Ben Ali have villas.
* He is a shareholder in radio station Mosaique FM. IMED TRABELSI: The former first lady’s nephew, media reports said he was killed in a knife attack last weekend. He was chairman of a firm called Med Business Holding which is the local partner of French do-it-yourself chain Bricorama. The chain has a store on a five-hectare site on the outskirts of Tunis. CYRINE BEN ALI: The daughter of the ousted president, Cyrine Ben Ali is chairwoman of the Shems FM radio station, launched last year. MARWAN BEN MABROUK: The husband of Cyrine Ben Ali, he runs conglomerate Groupe Mabrouk. The firm, through its vehicle Investec, is the Tunisian partner of France Telecom. France Telecom owns 49 percent of local mobile operator Orange Tunisie, with Investec owning the rest. Tunisia's government awarded the country’s first third-generation mobile telecoms licence to Orange Tunisie in 2010. KAIS BEN ALI: Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali’s nephew, he owns a number of depots for distributing alcoholic drinks. His opulent beachside mansion in the resort town of Hammamet was ransacked in violence following the president’s departure.
