The Sunday Telegraph says Mubarak used last 18 days in office to shift vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas

British daily Sunday Telegraph quoted Western intelligence sources as saying that Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas.

The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing a fortune of more than £3 billion - although some suggest it could be as much as £40 billion - during his 30 years in power. It is claimed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.

The British daily said that Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators after he perceived that his downfall was imminent.

According to the daily, a senior Western intelligence source claimed that Mubarak had begun moving his fortune in recent weeks. "We're aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets," the source said. "And we think their financial advisers have moved some of the money around. If he had real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now."

The intelligence source suggested that 82-year-old Mubarak may have learnt the lesson of his fellow dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the former president of Tunisia, who was forced with his family into a hasty exile in Saudi Arabia while Swiss authorities froze the family's bank accounts.

The Sunday Telegraph also quoted a US official as saying that there’s no doubt there will have been some frantic financial activity behind the scenes. "They can lose the homes and some of the bank accounts, but they will have wanted to get the gold bars and other investments to safe quarters."

The daily noted that the Mubaraks are understood to have wanted to shift family assets to Gulf states where they have considerable investments already – and, crucially, friendly relations. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have frequently been mentioned as likely final destinations for Mubarak and possibly his family, the daily said, while noting that the UK Treasury said it would have the power to seize Mubarak's British assets if Egypt made a formal request - and no order had yet been made.

But Lord Malloch-Brown, a former Labor foreign minister and former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, told The Sunday Telegraph: "When people are forced out of office, if they have money way beyond what they should have earned, then a country like Britain should freeze those assets pending a court action by the new government. Given his and his family's strong links to the UK, it is reasonable to assume at least some of his assets are here."

Intelligence sources indicate that the Mubarak fortune may be most easily traced via the business dealings of Gamal Mubarak, 47, the daily added.