Monaco closes corruption probe towards Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister for lack of proof

BEIRUT — A 3-year probe towards Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister and his household over corruption allegations has been closed by Monaco’s judicial authorities for lack of proof, the premier’s workplace mentioned Friday.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s workplace mentioned that Morgan Raymond, the deputy public prosecutor in Monaco, advised the Lebanese premier’s authorized crew that they’ve closed the investigation into the case that was raised by unspecified Lebanese plaintiffs on allegations of illicit enrichment and cash laundering.

Mikati’s workplace mentioned Monaco’s resolution exhibits that the case was “fake” and meant “for political purposes.” It added that Mikati and his household will take authorized motion towards those that had been behind these “lies and rumors.”

In 2021, a trove of leaked paperwork named the “Pandora Papers,” that had been examined by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Daraj, a Beirut-based unbiased digital media platform, confirmed that for years, Lebanon’s politicians and bankers have stowed wealth in offshore tax havens and used it to purchase costly properties.

Mikati has owned a Panama-based offshore firm for the reason that Nineties. He used it in 2008 to purchase property in Monaco price greater than $10 million, Daraj reported from the paperwork.

The leaked paperwork additionally present that Mikati’s son Maher was a director of at the very least two British Virgin Islands-based corporations, which his father’s Monaco-based firm, M1 Group, used to acquire an workplace in central London.