Looks like Madoff tried to rip off Qaddafi's government.

On January 20th, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya met with Mohamed Layas, the Head of the Libyan Investment Authority, and highlighted ways that U.S. businesses could thrive in Libya.

The following transmission is from a summary of the what happened during the meeting, sent from the Embassy Tripoli to an unknown destination.

Also interesting: What Qadaffi didn't lose with Madoff, he lost with Lehman Brothers.

The transmission was recently sent from WikiLeaks to the Telegraph:

Layas denied press reports that the LIA [Libya's sovereign wealth fund] had invested USD 100 million with the infamous Allen Stanford.

He said that he had personally written a letter to the "Financial Times" disputing [its] information, explaining that Stanford had approached the LIA in the middle of his crisis, offering a 7-8% share in his investment scheme, but Layas had refused.

Layas also mentioned having been previously approached by Bernard Madoff about an investment opportunity, "but we did not accept."

On the contrary, LIA's recent purchase of the Canadian Verenex oil company -- after much controversy over the manner in which it was purchased and share price -- was considered by Layas a "good deal." LIA plans to operate Verenex jointly with the Libyan Investment and Development Corporation (LIDCO).

Hat tip @Matthew Stoller