Lawyer Files 'Illicit Enrichment’ Case against Bassil
A Lebanese lawyer filed a lawsuit on Friday against caretaker Minister Jebran Bassil accusing him of "embezzlement, money laundering and illicit enrichment."
Lawyer Marwan Salam said he filed the lawsuit against Bassil whom he accused of “embezzling public funds, money laundering, illicit enrichment and any other crime that investigations show.”
On Thursday, Lebanon's financial prosecutor ordered sweeping investigations into suspected corruption and waste of public funds by senior officials.
Financial prosecutor Ali Ibrahim has launched probes into customs authority chief Badri al-Daher over suspected “waste of public funds.”
The prosecutor's decision came after lawyers brought a case against the officials in question over alleged misappropriation or use of public funds for personal purposes, along with "abuses of power which caused significant damage to Lebanese citizens.”
Ibrahim had ordered an inquiry into "all the ministers of successive governments since 1990.”
On Thursday, Ibrahim questioned former premier Fouad Saniora for three hours over $11 billion allegedly spent during his period in office from 2006 to 2008.
Saniora has in the past denied all accusations of misappropriation of public funds.
Last month, another prosecutor pressed charges against former prime minister Najib Miqati over allegations he wrongly received millions of dollars in subsidised housing loans, charges he denies.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press
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