2024-04-06 05:41:58
While the lawsuit filed by two Lebanese associations in France once morest the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, on charges of “money laundering and illicit enrichment” took its legal course, Lebanon was not informed of anything regarding it, as a source in the Cassation Public Prosecution confirmed that the latter “did not receive any memorandum.” From the French authorities regarding this lawsuit and expressing its demands regarding it.”
The source confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the Lebanese judiciary is not aware of the merits of this case and the reasons for submitting it in France instead of Lebanon,” stressing that “when any document is received, it will be dealt with within the legal frameworks.”
On Tuesday, the “Sherpa” non-governmental organization to combat financial crime, and the “Gathering of Victims of Fraudulent and Criminal Practices in Lebanon,” which was founded by a number of depositors in Lebanese banks affected by the consequences of the financial crisis that the country has witnessed since 2019, filed a lawsuit once morest Mikati, and the agency announced The French press has seen its contents, and it accuses the Prime Minister of “money laundering and illicit enrichment.”
Mikati’s office responded in a statement, considering that “circulating through some media outlets the details related to the lawsuit, before informing those concerned regarding it, aims to harm his reputation and the reputation of his family through deliberate defamation.” He told Agence France-Presse, “What the family owns as a result of the business of its commercial companies dating back many years is characterized by complete transparency and adherence to applicable laws and the highest ethical principles.” He stressed that “no person in the family or in the group of family companies has been convicted in any judicial file, whether in Lebanon or anywhere else in the world.”
Real estate and money laundering
The text of the lawsuit stated: “It is likely that Najib Mikati acquired various properties in France and abroad, through various bodies, and through very large financial transfers with his brother Taha Mikati in particular.” The text addresses “financial crimes including money laundering and conspiracy within organized groups.” Among the assets targeted in the lawsuit once morest Najib Mikati are real estate in Monaco and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in southern France, in addition to a 79-meter yacht “purchased for $100 million,” and two Falcon aircraft worth approximately $95 million. The lawsuit also mentions a yacht owned by his brother, Taha Mikati, whose value is estimated at $125 million. The lawsuit asked the French judiciary to “return the embezzled assets.”
Lawsuit in Lebanon
This lawsuit comes once morest the backdrop of a lawsuit filed once morest Mikati before the first investigating judge in Beirut, which accused the latter, his son Maher, and his brother Azmi Taha Mikati’s son, of “obtaining loans supported by the Bank of Lebanon, intended to help citizens with limited income to buy homes, and that Mikati And members of his family put it in their bank accounts in Lebanon and abroad.
A Lebanese judicial source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the lawsuit, which was filed in Lebanon in 2019, was dropped over time. The source indicated that former investigating judge Charbel Abu Samra summoned Mikati and listened to his testimony, as the latter denied these charges.
He pointed out that Judge Abu Samra “decided to dismiss the case due to the passage of time, meaning that 3 years had passed since the alleged crime.” The source pointed out that “if the case filed in France relates to the facts presented in the case before the Lebanese judiciary, the procedures regarding it may be frozen, as Lebanese law is adapted from French law, which does not permit the filing of the same case before two judicial authorities.”
Tax havens
On the sidelines of the lawsuit, the lawyers for the two plaintiffs, William Burdon and Vincent Berngart, said: “Mr. Mikati’s systematic use of foreign accounts and tax havens makes him and his family suspected of money laundering and tax fraud (as well as other crimes) on a large scale for years.” The lawsuit also targets a number of the Mikati brothers’ children, considering that they may have received money that was supposedly laundered.
The Sherpa organization wrote in a statement: “The central issue here is to question the responsibility of all actors, and thus open the way for the return of embezzled assets to the victim population, while Lebanon is witnessing a collapse of a historic magnitude.”
Youssef Diab – Middle East
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