Libya’s Public Prosecution has ordered the pretrial detention of the Director of the Al-Wafa Bank, and the person responsible for documentary credits on charges of receiving illicit funds.
The Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that the accused individuals obtained illegal funds. This was by benefiting from foreign currency, amounting to 21 million dinars without depositing the equivalent financial value from the client.
According to the office, the information gathered during the investigation proved that the accused individuals carried out the operation within the main bank, with the purpose of personal gain.
Earlier on 27 August, the Public Prosecution ordered the pretrial detention of the General Manager of the Al-Rifi Bank, on charges of misappropriating four million dinars of the bank’s funds.
The office clarified that the accused “deliberately mismanaged the amount, violating the principles of public financial management. Their actions resulted in providing an unauthorized financial benefit to a company, by enabling it to access the tracked funds, despite the bank’s denial of receiving the contracted goods since 2018.”
Notably, the Attorney General, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour is leading a campaign against corruption in the Libyan state institutions. Dozens of officials and diplomats were arrested in connection with embezzlement, corruption, and abuse of power. Libyan banking officials were also arrested over embezzlement charges.
Earlier this week, Libya’s Public Prosecution ordered the imprisonment of the Chargé d’Affairs of the Libyan Mission to Argentina, pending investigation on charges of misuse of his position.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office explained that it investigated the incident of abuse of office, attributed to the mission official.
In a statement, it detailed the findings of the investigation. It revealed that the official had “exceeded his role by authorizing the financial controller appointed by the state, in which the mission operates.”
Additionally, the official was found to have “violated the protocols for reviewing financial operations by exclusively managing the mission’s bank accounts, even after the termination of his official relationship.”
As a result of these revelations, the investigator handling the case has ordered the official’s pretrial detention, while the investigation proceeds. Furthermore, a criminal accounting examination has been initiated to scrutinize the expenditures of the mission.