Audit Bureau: 100 Companies Benefitting from Red Diesel Scandal
The head of the Audit Bureau Judge Aouni Ramadan announced that a hundred companies have benefitted from the red diesel “scandal” that has erupted recently, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.
He added that the companies’ gains have ranged between 0.3 and 7 percent.
Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas meanwhile told the daily that he still needs further details in order to complete his report on the scandal.
Ramadan had stressed on Friday that the amount of red diesel sold by a refinery in north Lebanon to oil distribution companies the last day of a one-month government subsidy was much higher than claims made by Energy Minister Jebran Bassil.
In remarks published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper, Ramadan said: “The investigation into the waste of public funds through a deal on red diesel ends within a week and its results will be announced to everyone.”
“It appeared to us through the field investigation that the amount of red diesel sold is 101 million liters,” he said.
The Audit Bureau questioned on Wednesday the directors general of oil refineries in Zahrani in the South and Deir Amar in the North.
On Thursday, Ramadan dispatched inspectors to the Deir Amar refinery to examine some bills and documents.
He told al-Mustaqbal that the team will continue its investigation on Friday by visiting the Zahrani refinery. But Ramadan had said in remarks published on Thursday that the red diesel scandal revolves only around the facility in northern Lebanon.
Bassil defended on Thursday the oil refineries that have been accused of corruption saying they should be rewarded rather than questioned.
He stressed that the amount of red diesel sold in the last day of the subsidy deadline at midnight January 18 did not exceed the rate that was registered days earlier and which amounted to 7-8.5 million liters.
According to al-Mustaqbal, the people involved in the scandal have made around 11 million dollars of profits after buying the red diesel at the subsidized price and selling it after the end of the one-month subsidy of LL3,000 ( 2 dollars).
The Mustaqbal report could not be corroborated because Ramadan did not mention the amount of red diesel sold on January 18 in remarks to An Nahar daily on Friday.
Nahhas told An Nahar that he sent a memo to the director general of oil refineries Sarkis Hleis asking him for more information on the scandal given that the “info he gave us is either incomplete or unclear.”
The minister said he sent the memo after Ramadan questioned the director general of the economy ministry. The minister vowed to draft his own report, saying he would refer it to the cabinet and parliament’s finance and budget committee within 15 days.
The scandal has drawn huge criticism from politicians from across the political spectrum.
Parliamentary majority sources described it as a “huge crime” and vowed not to tolerate any such case. They told An Nahar that they were waiting for a transparent report from Nahhas and would continue to call for judicial action against the culprits.
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