More than $11m (£8.8m) is missing from The Gambia's state coffers following the departure of long-time leader Yahya Jammeh, an adviser to President Adama Barrow has said.
Mai Ahmad Fatty said financial experts were trying to evaluate the exact loss.
Luxury cars and other items were reportedly loaded on to a Chadian cargo plane as Mr Jammeh left the country.
Mr Jammeh has not commented and the BBC has not independently verified the claims.
After 22 years in power, Mr Jammeh flew into exile on Saturday.
He had refused to accept election results but finally left after mediation by regional leaders and the threat of military intervention.
President Barrow remains in neighbouring Senegal and it is not clear when he will return.
However, West African troops entered the Gambian capital, Banjul, on Sunday to prepare for his arrival.
Cheering crowds gathered outside the State House to watch soldiers secure the building.
The Senegalese general leading the joint force from five African nations said they were controlling "strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate... Mr Barrow's assumption of his role".
Mr Fatty told reporters in the Senegalese capital Dakar that The Gambia was in financial distress.
"The coffers are virtually empty," he said. "It has been confirmed by technicians in the ministry of finance and the Central Bank of the Gambia."
He said Mr Jammeh had made off with more than $11m in the past two weeks alone.
Mr Fatty said officials at The Gambia's main airport had been told not to let any of Mr Jammeh's belongings leave the country.
Reports said some of the former leader's goods were in Guinea where Mr Jammeh had stopped on his journey into exile.
Mr Jammeh is reported to now be in Equatorial Guinea, although authorities there have not confirmed it.
The former leader had initially accepted Mr Barrow's election win on 1 December, but later alleged "irregularities" and called for a fresh vote.
The move was internationally condemned and the UN-backed Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) issued an ultimatum for him to quit or be removed by force.
Source: BBC
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THIS CAN ONLY BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN IN AFRICA WHERE MANY OF THE LEADERS ARE BY THEMSELVES CORRUPT. JAMMEH MUST NOT BE TREATED AS A KING. HE IS NOT DOING FAVOR TO ANYBODY AND HE MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO LOOT HIS COUNTRY AND CREATE ECONOMIC MESS FOR THE NEW GOVERNMENT AND MORE POVERTY IN THE GAMBIA. WHATEVER HE HAS UNLAWFULLY TAKEN AWAY FROM THE COUNTRY MUST BE RETURN. HE IS A CRIMINAL WHO WAS CHASED OUT OF GAMBIA BY ECOWAS FORCES AND HE MUST BE TREATED AS SUCH.
The president left on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday non working day and on Monday early morning before work begins you have found out huge amount of money stolen by Jammeh whiles your new government has not even taken over yet. Do not lot and put Yahya Jammeh's name on it.Please Mr president Adama Basrrow come back to Gambia and elect members to form your government.
Is it an international that a former president can send a bulletproof vehicle out of his country to another country to be used as his personal property? The loot was just too much and he must be made to account fort all the things he stole to deter others from doing same. The international community owe it a duty to protect Gambia from the selfish interest of Yahya Jammeh