The Telegraph‘s Philip Sherwell, Robert Mendick and Nick Meo are reporting that during his last 18 days in power, deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubrak “is understood to have attempted to place his assets — more than 3 billion pounds, although some suggest it could be as much as 40 billion — out of reach of potential investigators.

“On Friday night Swiss authorities announced they were freezing any assets Mubarak and his family may hold in the country’s banks while pressure was growing for the UK to do the same. But 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,” said the source, “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.”