(Fortune/CNN) Mitchell Prothero - UN investigators have said the February 2005 car bombing in Beirut that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri may have been partly intended to cover up a corruption and bank fraud scandal that siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars to top Syrian and Lebanese officials. Bank documents show that some of the officials were deeply involved from the late 1990s until early 2003 in a kickback scheme that supplied them with cash, real estate, cars, and jewelry in exchange for protecting and facilitating a multibillion-dollar money-laundering operation at Lebanon's Bank al-Madina that allowed terrorist organizations, peddlers of West African "blood diamonds," Saddam Hussein, and Russian gangsters to hide income and convert hot money into legitimate bank accounts around the world. Several sources, including one alleged conspirator in the oil-for-food scandal, put the amount transferred and laundered through al-Madina at more than $1 billion, with a 25% commission going to Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies. The source says that among the recipients were Bashar Assad's brother Maher and the head of military intelligence in Lebanon at the time, Ghazi Kanaan.
2006-05-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive