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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Al Madina Bank Money Laundering Suspects Identified in Lebanon

2007-05-20

State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza has referred 11 suspects purportedly involved in the Al Madina Bank scandal to Beirut Public Prosecutor Joseph Maamari. Lebanese newspapers citing judicial sources, on Saturday said the 11 were believed to have a hand in the case of money laundering at Al Madina Bank in 2003. It identified the suspects as, in addition to former executive secretary of Al Madina scandal heroine Rana Qoleilat, her two brothers -- Taha and Basel Qoleilat -- as well as Adnan Abou Ayyash. Among the names in the report were bank employees Youssef al Hashi, Kazem Bahlawan, Fouad Qahwaji and Rene Kaado Moawwad. Qoleilat, who is facing fraud charges in Lebanon, is jailed in Brazil for allegedly trying to bribe security officers to release her. She was earlier jailed in Lebanon for her supposed role in the disappearance of more than $300 million from Al Madina Bank in 2003. Lebanese press indicates that Adnan Abou Ayyash's brother, Ibrahim Abou Ayyash, and his son, Wissam Ibrahim Abou Ayyash, were also among the suspects. It quoted the sources as saying investigation with this group of suspects will only focus on the issue of money laundering. The suspects reportedly included a person who had a "strong work relationship" with Qoleilat. Qoleilat, who is facing fraud charges in Lebanon, is jailed in Brazil for allegedly trying to bribe security officers to release her. She was earlier jailed in Lebanon for her supposed role in the disappearance of more than $300 million from Al Madina Bank in 2003.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Brammertz concludes his UN report about Hariri 's murder

2007-05-12

The report by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, head of the U.N. probe into the assassination of Lebanon ’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was said to have been "concluded" on Thursday The daily Asharq Alawsat, citing well-informed Lebanese sources, said outcome of Brammertz' report and disclosure of those involved in the 2005 murder of Hariri and related crimes are "subject to" creation of the U.N.-backed international tribunal. The sources said the U.N. commission investigating Hariri's killing has "crowned" its nearly two-year probe with the grilling of fugitive Rana Koleilat, former Al Madina Bank executive, who is jailed in Brazil for allegedly trying to bribe police officers who located her for Interpol. Koleilat, who is also under investigation for a multi-million-dollar fraud at Al Madina, was arrested in Sao Paulo on March 12, 2006. Asharq Alawsat said the sources quoted diplomats at the United Nations as saying that Koleilat's testimony had "shed light on important issues that have been awaiting clearance" from the U.N. commission. The sources said Koleilat was interrogated as a witness, thus, her testimony ought to be supported with tangible evidence and documents.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Rana Qoleilat claims innocence in TV interview

2006-03-30

Rana Qoleilat, the Al-Madina Bank executive wanted on suspicion of involvement in a banking scandal, said she was innocent of all allegations in her first media appearance Tuesday. The fugitive alleged from her Brazilian prison cell that her ex-husband Adnan Abu Ayyash paid Syria's former intelligence chief in Lebanon Rustom Ghazaleh to have her thrown in jail. In an interview with Brazil's Globo Television, Qoleilat said: "Rustom Ghazaleh was extorting money from rich and influential Lebanese like me." A transcript of the interview was published in Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal Tuesday. "I was jailed because I didn't pay Ghazaleh. It was my ex-husband who paid him to put me in jail," she added. Qoleilat blamed Al-Madina's collapse on Ayyash, who she claims withdrew $490 million to invest in the stock market. "That is when all the troubles began," she said. The couple were married for 10 years from 1992. When Ayyash was unable to return the money, Qoleilat and her family "rushed to his aid" so that he could reimburse the bank's depositors, she added. "When the scandal broke, they started accusing me, when I didn't steal anything. I didn't need to steal because [Ayyash] gave me complete freedom over his private accounts," she said. "He is using his influence to keep me in prison to humiliate me," she said, adding "he threw me in a pit full of rats and garbage."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ghazali ready to quit if ordered

2006-01-04

Rustum Ghazali, erstwhile head of the Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon who has been implicated in the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, says he is ready to step down if asked by his president. "Not suicide, though. I'm not ready to bump myself off..." Aljazeera's correspondent in Damascus reported earlier on Tuesday that rumours were circulating in Damascus and Beirut that Brigadier-General Ghazali had committed suicide or had been assassinated. "Yeah. I tried to commit suicide, but I got away." Ghazali later told Aljazeera by phone that the rumours were just that. "These rumours are not new, as similar rumours have been previously reported. They only aim to create confusion." But he said he was ready to resign if asked by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. "If the leadership asks me to die a martyr, I am ready ... and if they ask me to resign, I am also ready." "But really, I'd rather resign. Gay Paree is so nice this time of year..." A UN investigation has implicated Lebanese and Syrian officials in the 14 February 2005 assassination of al-Hariri that triggered protests which led to the end of Syria's 29-year presence in Lebanon. Ghazali was among a number of Syrian officials interviewed by a UN murder inquiry in Vienna in November. Ghazali declined to comment on the threats he allegedly made to the late al-Hariri, saying he prefers to protect the confidentiality of the probe and avoid obstruction of the truth's revelation. He, however, denied all accusations of corruption, including the charges levelled last week by Abdul Halim Khaddam, Syria's former vice-president, that Ghazali took $35 million from Lebanon's Al-Madina Bank, which collapsed two years ago. "This is all baseless, part of the unjust campaign against Syria," he told Aljazeera.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Druze leader expects further assassinations of anti-Syrian figures

2005-12-19

Druze leader Walid Jumblat projects that political assassinations in Lebanon will continue in order to weaken the parliamentary majority that supports the ouster of President Emile Lahoud. This will allow Damascus to recover its grip on Lebanon, Jumblat stated. "They killed Gebran Tueni and there are members of the Democratic Gathering and the Beirut Decision blocs on the list," said Jumblat. "They believe that once these people are liquidated, the scene in parliament would change." "This portrays the Lebanese as an incapable nation, facilitating the return of the Syrian tutelage," he was quoted as saying by Nahrnet Monday. "This is the diabolic plot." He said Syria's Military Intelligence Chief, Gen. Assef Shawkat, had threatened Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman after the latter blocked recently the so-called "military route" - the suspected gateway for weapons and intelligence personnel pouring into Lebanon from Damascus. So it is a big deal The Druze leader ridiculed Syrian denial of involvement in ex-Premier Hariri's murder, noting that Syria's "iron fist" in Lebanon "could not possibly miss 1,000 kilograms of explosives floating in a truck, waiting to blow up Hariri's car, and supported by the most sophisticated electronic jamming equipment." One of the reasons why Hariri was killed, said Jumblat, was the fact he had uncovered the fraud at Al-Madina Bank, where $1 billion had been siphoned away to personal accounts of "high-ranking" Syrian officials.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanese security foils possible attempt to assassinate judge

2005-10-02

A possible attempt to assassinate a Lebanese judge was foiled Saturday after police and explosives experts found batteries and wires under his car, security officials said. No trace of explosives, however, was found near the car of Judge Nazem Khoury, who is overseeing the probe into the financial scandals of Lebanon's Al-Madina Bank and ordered its closure. That sounds kind of goofy. Somebody stole the explosives? The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements, said Khoury had recently received threats from unknown sources. The incident comes at a time of high tension in Lebanon, as a U.N.-mandated probe into former Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination near its end and a spate of bombings targeting politicians, journalists as well as commercial and residential areas continues. The security officials said Khoury's neighbors in the town of Sahel Alma, north of Beirut, noticed suspicious activity around his car at 2 a.m. Saturday (2300 GMT Friday) and alerted the judge. When Khoury checked on his car from his balcony, he saw a man jump away and leave on a motorcycle with another man. That sounds a little more likely... He alerted the police, who found batteries with wires attached under his car, in addition to cut wires under the steering wheel. Experts and police dogs found no trace of explosives and it was not clear if it was an attempt to assassinate Khoury or sabotage his car. Khoury is overseeing the case of the scandal-ridden Al-Madina Bank, where a cash deficit of more than US$300 million and other irregularities became public in July 2003. The news prompted Lebanon's Central Bank to step in and take control of the bank. The fugitive chairman of the bank filed a lawsuit in May claiming that the former chief of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon and three of his brothers embezzled more than US$70 million in depositors' money.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Leb generals rollin' in dough...

2005-09-09

A judiciary source said the UN team interrogated a "security officer" about possible links between the four men accused of Hariri's assassination and Al-Madina Bank executive secretary, Rana Qoleilat. Al-Madina bank was closed by a court ruling last year after a scandal involving Syrian and Lebanese officials and money laundering. Local television, citing a financial source, said around $500 million was found in the bank accounts of the officers accused of Hariri's murder. Usually, professional soldiers, even generals, aren't paid quite that well... The source said that each of the four officers possessed around $150 million and that most of the money had been paid into their accounts during the last two years. According to the source, one of the suspected officers possessed only $30 million in Lebanon as he had wired most of his money to accounts abroad a few months before Hariri's assassination. Lebanon's strict banking secrecy laws were "lifted" from the accounts following a request from the UN investigation team in the past few days.

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