U.S. imposes sanctions on Lebanese brothers over corruption

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One of the major setback to the development of any society corruption and the society becomes stagnant when the menace has eaten the fabrics of the society.

The US government is at the forefront fighting corruption and this is reflected in our today's news.

The United States imposed new sanctions on Tuesday on two Lebanese brothers, as well as several of their companies, who it said had used their wealth to engage in corrupt practices that contribute to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon.

"Today's action underscores the United States’ commitment to shining a light on corrupt actions, which continue to unjustly impact the Lebanese people," Treasury Department Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.

The US Treasury is accusing two Lebanese, Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme for using companies to multiply contracts from the Lebanese government through "a highly opaque public tendering process".

The Treasury said the brothers in 2017 secured a subcontract to import fuel for use by Lebanon's state-owned national electricity utility and to import fuel on behalf of the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water in a reportedly corrupt bidding process.

The two Lebanese brothers imported tainted fuel products from the United Arab Emirates and mixed them with some good fuel products endangering the power plants in the country.

The Rahme brothers have been in the business of enriching themselves while putting the Lebanese through suffering with their fraudulent schemes. The infrastructure and economy is deteriorating on a daily basis. Power stations across Lebanon increasingly malfunctioned and daily electricity cuts increased," Treasury said in the statement.

In 2020, the Rahme brothers were linked to the ZR Energy DMCC, a company that had subcontract with supplying fuel to the Lebanese power company and through several investigations it was discovered that the company supplied tainted fuel to the power company that has led to the malfunctioning of the power plants, although the Rahme brothers denied being involved in the dirty fuel business.

These illegal businesses have further worsen the power supply in Lebanon. This sanctions and further arraignment of the Rahme brothers will serve as deterrence to future corrupt practices in Lebanon. The US government is truly working towards the right direction to bring to light corruption cases across the world.

Thanks!

• https://www.reuters.com/world/us-imposes-sanctions-lebeanese-brothers-over-corruption-2023-04-04/