Missing funds widen probe as treasury scandal rocks Beirut...

3^min

Report by Lara El Hachem, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

Twenty officers from the Beirut Fire Brigade allegedly received a total of $330,000 from the Beirut Municipality’s treasury, which was reportedly accessed without proper oversight.

The payment was made as compensation for fuel coupons based on a State Shura Council ruling. However, the treasury secretary, K.A., authorized the payment without municipal council approval, leading to his arrest by the Lebanese State Security on orders from the financial prosecutor’s office.

His attorney, Ali Abbas, told LBCI that his client was “trapped,” claiming the municipal council had initially approved the spending with the promise of later issuing a formal decision, but then withdrew its support. Abbas said his client’s mistake was administrative, not criminal, describing the case as part of a power struggle between the municipality and the governor, with whom K.A. is said to be close.

The financial prosecutor’s office and the Court of Audit are investigating a missing $32,000 from the total amount. According to auditors, the treasury secretary had reached an agreement under which each of the 20 officers would donate $1,600 back to the municipality, but auditors found no record of that sum in the treasury.

The probe into illegal spending procedures also uncovered other violations in the municipality, including the occupation and use of municipal parking lots without legal authorization, backed only by receipts signed by the treasury secretary.

So far, investigators have not found clear evidence of corruption or embezzlement, but rather mismanagement. The report describes K.A. as exercising broad authority — from holding the only key to the treasury to issuing clearances for the use of municipal properties without proper auditing, powers that normally fall under the collection department.

Sources say the “snowball is growing” as auditors dig deeper into the records. Meanwhile, the Court of Audit continues to review the accounts, and the financial prosecutor’s office plans to expand its investigation, including a separate complaint filed by Abbas regarding alleged public fund mismanagement and other municipal violations.