A Tripoli criminal court has sentenced a defendant to 10 years in prison for embezzling funds from Libya’s investments in the Central African Republic. The court also fined him 200,000 dinars and ordered him to repay eight million dinars.
The Public Prosecution initiated legal proceedings against the individual, who posed as the executive director of the Libyan African Investment Company (LAICO) in the Central African Republic. He was found guilty of misappropriating profits generated from real estate investments owned by the company.
According to a statement from the Attorney General’s Office, the defendant committed another offence by signing a lease agreement for a property that resulted in financial losses of approximately 7.19 million dinars for the company.
The case is part of a broader crackdown on financial misconduct involving Libyan officials and state assets abroad. On Monday, the prosecution also announced the arrest of a former financial auditor at Libya’s diplomatic mission in Bangladesh, who faces charges of embezzlement.
The Attorney General’s Office confirmed that the auditor was extradited through the Arab and International Criminal Police Office. He is accused of unlawfully disbursing $500,000 from funds allocated to the Libyan mission in Bangladesh, in violation of financial regulations.
Libyan authorities have intensified their efforts to combat corruption and recover misappropriated state funds. Several high-profile cases have emerged in recent years, reflecting the government’s attempt to address financial crimes that have impacted the country’s economic stability.