On Saturday, the Libyan Attorney General, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour ordered the detention of officials at the Al Wahda Bank in the city of Ajaylat over charges of forgery and financial corruption.
In a statement, the Attorney General’s Office said that this came after a report was submitted by the Head of the Audit Bureau against the Director and Deputy Director of the bank.
According to preliminary investigations, the men had “conducted illegal banking operations on their clients’ accounts, using forged bank cheques.” They also reportedly received “illegal material benefits and violated the disciplinary duties by exceeding the limits of their competencies.”
Thus, the investigator ended up ordering the pretrial detention of the accused.
This comes as “part of the Public Prosecution’s efforts to continue combating corruption, and apprehending perpetrators.”
In a related context, Al-Sour ordered the detention of the Head of the Libyan Embassy in South Africa and his financial controller over charges of financial corruption.
In a statement, the Attorney General’s Office stated that this came after a number of supervisory reports showed administrative and financial abuses by the head of mission and the financial controller.
The investigations revealed that the accused “had committed crimes of seizing public money, obtaining material benefits in violation of laws, and spending public money in a manner other than its intended purpose.”
In September, Officials of the Libyan General Training Center of the Ministry of Education were arrested on charges of embezzling public money, and forging official documents, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The Office said in a statement that the Anti-Corruption Prosecution in the Tripoli Court of Appeals investigated a complaint filed by an employee of the General Training Center.
The investigations discovered that the accused “had committed crimes of seizing public money, obtaining material benefits in violation of laws, spending public money in a manner other than its intended purpose.”
They also have been accused of “forging official documents required by the Administrative Contract Regulations, and misusing the authority of their job.”
“After interrogating the accused, the Libyan investigator ordered their pretrial detention,” the statement explained.