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Seventeen customs officials and nine bank employees have been detained in Libya for their alleged involvement in a LYD 1.2 billion (USD 246 million) letter of credit fraud exposed at the Libyan Tunisian Ras Jadair border, according to the Libyan Attorney General’s Office as reported by Libyan news outlets.
From details based on a reported 18 February 2024 announcement by the AG’s Office, investigating authorities ordered the imprisonment of the Head of the Ras Ajdir Customs Office, two leaders of the Customs Review and Procedures Department, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al-Yaqeen Bank, his deputy, and seven people responsible for managing compliance affairs, banking operations, external operations, credits and auditing at the bank. Fourteen other customs guard officers have also been detained.
Relying on information from the General Administration for Combating Smuggling and Drugs, the investigation implicates the customs guard officers for committing forgery crimes involving customs documents linked to letters of credit completed within Al-Yaqeen Bank. According to published reports, customs data was manipulated to state that seven commercial companies had imported goods into the country but no commodities arrived in reality which helped company owners benefit from foreign currency exchange equivalent to LYD 91 million and collect revenues from trading in foreign exchange in the parallel market.
Citing the abuse of funds contained in Financial Information Unit reports relating to the examination of Al-Yaqeen Bank’s operations, investigators were able to determine the bank’s business leaders were complicit in facilitating illegal gains of more than 20 million dollars for the owners of 49 companies. The examination also revealed “a defect in credits” amounting to 1.2 billion dollars that were completed “in violation of the system of granting letters of credit.