When it comes to crass, Leila Ben Ali takes the cake...

THE president's wife did not have an appointment, but nobody was going to stop Leila Ben Ali when she swept into the office of the governor of the central bank of Tunis and demanded 1 1/2 tonnes of the nation's gold.

...Angered by the suicide of a young man who set himself on fire out of despair at his poverty and lack of a future, Tunisians took to the streets, forcing the ruling family to flee and have now stormed their homes and businesses.

How did Leila, a twice-married hairdresser, one of 11 children of Saida and Mohamad Trabelsi, a fruit and nut seller, come to rival Imelda Marcos for greed? How did she isolate her husband, the president, and siphon off so much money from the country that the poor finally rebelled?

More where that came from:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/how-a-gold-digging-tunisian-hairdresser-leila-ben-ali-perfected-art-of-plunder/story-e6frg6so-1225993249755

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