US slaps sanctions on two brothers in Lebanon for corruption
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions Tuesday on two Lebanese brothers accused of using their business and political connections to enrich themselves while Lebanon’s economic crisis worsened.
A Treasury statement described Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme as politically connected businessmen who used “their wealth, power, and influence 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 Under Secretary for Terrorism Brian Nelson said in a statement. “Now more than ever, the Lebanese government should implement desperately needed economic and political reforms.”
The small Mediterranean country has been without a president since Michel Aoun completed his six-year term in October and the parliament repeatedly failed to elect a replacement. The continued political paralysis has contributed to what’s considered Lebanon’s worst financial and economic crisis since the country’s 1975-90 civil war.
The Lebanese currency has lost more than 98% of its value since 2019 and the prices of food, fuel and other basic necessities have surged. The United Nations estimates more than two-thirds of Lebanon’s residents live below the poverty line. Homes receive an average of one to two hours of state-supplied electricity per day.
The Treasury said the Rahme brothers are accused of using their companies both in and outside Lebanon to win government contracts “through a highly opaque public tendering process.” According to the department, the pair was awarded a subcontract to import fuel used by Lebanon’s state-owned electricity utility and to import fuel on behalf of its Ministry of Energy and Water.
The Rahme brothers imported tainted fuel, causing significant harm to Lebanese power plants, the Treasury said. To obscure their compromised product, their United Arab Emirates-based company ZR Energy DMCC allegedly blended it with other fuels.
“While the Rahme brothers enriched themselves with this scheme, the Lebanese people suffered, and the country’s infrastructure further deteriorated,” the Treasury statement said.
The Rahme brothers were designated under Executive Order 13441, which authorizes US sanctions on individuals who undermine Lebanon’s democratic processes or institutions or contribute to the breakdown of its rule of law. The Treasury Department also blacklisted three companies belonging to the brothers, including ZR Energy DMCC in Dubai.
The new sanctions are the latest to target those profiting from Lebanon’s economic meltdown. In January the Biden administration designated a Lebanon-based network it said facilitated financial activities for Hezbollah.
Source: al-monitor
